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THE

HISTORY

OF THE

COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

JOHN D' ALTON, Esq., M.R.I.A.,

BARRISTER AT LAW.

DUBLIN :
HODGES AND SMITH, COLLEGE-GREEN.

II.DCCC.XXXVIII.

234 ?H5

ex AV'D
A. iO-.3.

DUBLIN:
PBINTID BY B. OBAISBERRY.

• •• • •,'

> /•• • ••
•, • • •

• • ••

-•• ••• •

HIS EXCELLENCY

THE EARL OF MULGRAVE,

LORD LIEUTENANT- GENERAL AND GENERAL GOVERNOR OP IRELAND,

THE HISTORY

THk COUNTY OF DUBLIN

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

• My Lord,

Although the chronicles of
so important a portion of the kingdom, over
which your Excellency presides, have some
claim to be thus inscribed, their compiler could

^ not presume to solicit such an honour for his
labours ; he has, however, ventured to assume

o it, in the consciousness that the work has been

^ undertaken with the object of affording an
honest, impartial, and popular local memoir.

? .He proudly relies upon the fact, that the list of
its promoters comprises upwards of seven hun-

IV DEDICATION.

dred noblemen, clergymen, and gentry of every
varied shade of religious and political opinion ;
and yet more, he is so assured of justifying at
least such an expectation of impartiality, that,
while he has in no instance compromised the
truth of history, he has been equally tenacious
of a single comment that could make one Irish-
man unfriendly to another. If these his wishes
have been accomplished, your Excellency will
excuse the adoption of this dedication, and the
respectful wish that it may be received as an
humble tribute of the profound respect of

Your Excellency's
Devoted, humble Servant,

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

It has been ibe silent patriotism of my life, '' even from my
boyish days," to collect such evidences as time had spared of
Ireland's history and antiquities, the achievements of her
families, the associations of her scenery, and the literary
reminiscences that clung around her ruins ; a portion of these
acquisitions had a serviceable affinity to my profession^ and
all were endeared by affording to me such intellectual
attachments to my country, as it would be my object to
transfuse into others. The result of my earnest research has
been such an accumulation of materials, as extends through
nearly one hundred volumes of manuscript ; and furnishes,
perhaps, the most complete references extant for credible
information on these subjects. To stamp some of my collec-
tions with the immortality of print, was ever a proud and
flattering hope ; to connect the publication with one district
of " the emerald isle," was yet more alluring. Every spot
of the scenery, and every monument of the antiquities^ of
England and Scotland, have had their annalists and illus-
trators; but Ireland was suffered still to remain, the Cinderella
of the empire in her beauty and her obscurity. Happily, the
general history of the country has been at length led in by

PREFACE. Vll

dry details of births, marriages, promotions, and deaths; but,
as far as I could, with such a foliage of achievements as
leaves the trunk and its ramifications but secondary ob-
jects. Such memoirs have, however^ been introduced only
in respect to families long identified with localities within the
courvty, and whose representatives exhibited an interest in
the undertaking.

Much as the work has grown beyond the original con-
ception, my greatest labour has been to compress my mate-
rials ; yet were these entirely the result of my individual
researches and personal inquiries, with the exception, in the
County History, of some very interesting communications,
most kindly volunteered by Mr. George Alexander Hamilton
of Hampton, and some valuable ancient maps and surveys by
Mr. John Taylor of Newbrook, Rathfarnham; and in the
Memoirs, of some original letters by Mr. Matthew O'Conor,
and some interesting particulars relative to the later Ro-
man Catholic Archbishops by the Rev. Mr, Woods. The
other gentlemen of the county, the farmers, and the ma-
nufacturers in every order and grade, exhibited a most
repulsive determination to deny their answers to my statisti-
cal inquiries : for accuracy in notices on such subjects, I can,
therefore, be hardly held responsible, although I have
used my best exertions to attain it. In reference to other
sources of information, searches in the public Record Offices
could not be accomplished, without such a privileged admis-
sion from Government as I should Qot presume to solicit ;
and even the manuscripts in Trinity College are so herme-
tically sealed, as noticed in the " Memoirs/' &c., p. 247,
as leave them, even with the anxiety to oblige, which their
guardian, the Rev. Mr. Todd, always evinces, wholly un-
available. One source more remains to be alluded to — the
manuscripts in the Evidence Chamber at the castle of the
Earl of Howth; I have to acknowledge, with the deepest gra-
titude, offers of the most iberal and confidential access

Vlll PREFACE.

thereto ; but, while I am led to appreciate his lordship's col-
lections, as the most valuable for illostrating the history of
the Pale, circumstances, which I could not control, denied me
the leisure for sudi minute inspection as they would require,
and fi>r &e memoir of the St Lawrence family, the history of
the country afforded ample materials, without intruding on
any private repository.

Profesttonal avocations have retarded ^e completion of
these works, and prevented audi a close correction of die
proofii as might best improve the style; but this, at least, I am
proud to say, that in all the details, (with the exception of the
paper), they are Irish manufacture ; and, although I feel most
gratefol to Messrs. Longman and Co. for the polite ofl^r of
their London imprimatur, and services as publishers, it was a
gratification I could not forego, to see the title page stamped
with the more national attestation of '* Dublin — Hddges and
Smith."

JOHN D'ALTON.

48, SUMMER-HILL, DUBUX.

In consequence of the size of this vohme, the list of the
subscribers to it and the '< Memoirs/' kc,, has heenprejited to
the latter work.

GENERAL HISTORY

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Dublin, the metropolitan county of Ireland, is
bounded on the south by the county Wicklow ; on
the west by that of Kildare, on the north by Meath;
and on the east by the Irish Sea. It extends from
north to south thirty English miles, from east to
west about eighteen, and contains, according to the
survey and valuation return of 1824,* 147,884 Irish
acres, i. e. 237,74 r acres in English admeasurement,
exclusive of the city, and the liberties of Donore and
St, Sepulchre's thereto annexed. Of this quantity about

* This return^ which was in truth but a transcript of the scale for road
assessments in this county, as recognized in the act of 1763 hereafter
particularly mentioned, and based on immemorial local subsidies, is an
exceedingly defective, but as yet, unfortunately, the best criterion;
the trigonometrical survey of this county not being completed suf-
ficiently to verify a total estimate. Through the kindness, however,
of Lieutenant Larcom, a return of the parochial acreable contents is
promised for this work, as accurately as can at present be ascertained,
and within the requisite time.

2 GENERAL HISTORY OF

16,000 Irish acres have been calculated as waste, while
the church lands are returned as 8,966a. 3r. 17p.
arable and pasture, exclusive of 385 acres of mountain
and bog ; the commons. Archer,* at the commence-
ment of this century, calculated as 2,560 Irish acres.
Happily, however, the last item has been greatly
diminished since his time, and much excellent but
long neglected land has, by inclosure, been made the
object of individual interest and improvement.

The -city is considered to have derived its name
from the " black channel" of the Liffey, and to have
communicated the appellation to the surrounding
county, which comprises six baronies and one half
barony, viz. Coolock, Balrothery, Nethercross, and
Castleknock, on the north side of the river Liffiey ;
ctnd Newca^e, Uppercross, and Half Rathdown, on
the south ; while these civil divisions are ecclesias-
tically portioned into eighty-seven parishes, and
eighteen parts of parishes, conta»ing, in the yet more
minute subdhrision of townlands, 693 denominations.

In 1795 the population of this county was oalcn-
lated as 54,000. In 1813 it w«s stated to be 110,437.
In 1821 the census returned it as 125,625, and in
1831 as 151,228; exclusive, however, in the two
latter instimoes, of the liberties of Donore and St.
Sepulchre*s, which are classed Jn connexion with the
city ; while the number of houses in the county, as
90 defined, were duly Teported to be, in 1821, 19,966,
and in 1831, 22,385.

♦ Statistical Survey of the County of Dublin.

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

A table of the comparative population of Ireland,
at different periods, witji the authori);ies on which
each estimate is ground^, may be coa8i4ered of
sufficieuit interest to justify its iQtroduction here»
premising that Sir William Petty, in his Political
Aritihmetic, conjectaces it to have been, at the time
of the English invasion, not much moi-e than 300,000.
This number, by the ordinary course of generation^
he calculates would, in 500 years, allowing for epi-
demics, famines, wars, &c., increase to 1,200,000,
which, he says, was the population of Ireland in 1641 ;
hut soon afterwards so more than decimated by the
civil war and feuds of the disastrous period that
immediately ensued, as fully to justify the reduction
made by the same political economist, and which forms
the iirst item in the following table : —

1652 Sir Wm. Petty, 850,000
1672 Sir Wm. Petty, 1,100,000

Same, corrected, l,ddO,000

1695 Captain South, 1,084,102
1712 Thomas Dobbs, 2,099,094
1718 The same, 2,169.048

1725 The same, 2,317,374

1 726 The same, 2,309, 1 06
1731 Poll tax return, 2,010,221
1754 Hearth money

collectors, 2,372,634
1762DeBurgo, 2,317,384
1767 Hearth money

collectors, 2,544,276

1777 The same,

2,690,556

1785 The same.

2,845,932

1787 Dublin Chro-

nicle,*

3,Q01,200

1788 Gervase P.

Bushe,

4,040,000

1791 Hearth mone)

collectors,

4,206,612

179J2 RevDr.Beaufort 4,088,226

1805 Thomas New-

enham.

5,395,456

1814 Census,

5,937,856

1821 Census^

6.801,827

1831 Census,

7.767,401

* This estimate is rather noticed on account of the remarkable sub.
division which it makes of this total, viz. : —

GENERAL HISTORY OF

This county, excepting a mountainous tract at the
south, is very fertile, and exceeds any other in the
kingdom in culture, trade, and wealth ; yet its pro-
ductiveness is more attributable to its position in the
vicinity of the metropolis, than to the natural quality
of the soil, which, if it were not husbanded with large
outlays of capital, and all the refreshments of compost
that the city and the sea supply, would fail to present
such a robe of richness and verdure as it now exhibits.
Neither does the scenery in general derive its
greatest beauty from its own resources, the perspec-
tive of the bay of Dublin and the Wicklow mountains,
communicating to almost every view its softest and
finest finish. It is not, however, to be concluded, that
the county is deficient in picturesque attractions of
its own. Scenes of singular, but unappreciated love-
liness, occur in various localities^ as shall be particu-
larly pointed out in the progress of the work. Nor
does it want its own bold mountains, its dark wooded
glens, its graceful river, its meandering streams, and
its sacred islands ; there is but one feature of the pic-

In Uie army, indadiDg in-
valids . . 12,000

In the revenue, . 4,000

Employed in manafactures520,000

Mariners, fishermen, and
boatmen . . 46,000

Handicrafts and trades-
men . 580,000

Shopkeepers, dealers, and

pedlars, . . 260,000

Resident nobility and

gentry . . 10,000

Labourers employed, . 600,000
Children, . . 400,000

Merchants, . . 2,500

Clergy of all denomina-
tions, . . 11,500
Men of the law, doctors,

and surgeons, . . 5,200

Unemployed poor, idlers,
and vagrants, . 550,000

3,001,200

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 5

turcsque in which it had been somewhat cheated, it
has no silver lake

«< That to the fringed bank^
Her crystal mirror holds.**

The southern district is almost entirely a range
of granite hills, the loftiest of which, Garrycastle,
attains an elevation of 18G9 feet above the level of
the sea, while in the van, and the most remarkable
in the group, the Three Rock Mountain rears its
mystic, crowning monuments to a similar elevation of
1585 feet.

The Liffey, of which a more particular account
shall be given in its proper place, intersects the
county, and is the only river of note that wanders
through it. The baronies south of this river have
a gentle inclination towards the sea, are well supplied
with water from the mountains behind them, and
thickly peopled, and ornamented with elegant villas
and demesnes. Those at the northern side contain
also many spacious and beautiful parks and residences,
but, not being in equally fashionable estimation, are
not so thickly studded with seats and improve*
ments.

As has been remai*ked, there are no lakes here,
but neither are there, with the exception of some
tracts upon and between the mountains of Montpe-
lier, Cruagh, and Kilmashogue, Glancree, Kippure,
and GlancuUen, those deforming bogs, in which the
crystal brightness of too many Irish lakes is set.
Two canals, injudiciously approximated to each

6 GENERAL HISTORY OF

Other, the one the Royal, north of the LiflPey, the
other the Grand, south of it, extend their parallel
lines of navigation across the county, and thence
respectively communicate with the lordly Shannon.

On the geology of the county in general, Pro-
fessor Scouler supplies the following observations : —

" The vicinity of Dublin offers a great variety of
interesting matter for the study of the geologist.
Within a very limited distance from the capital, we
are presented with an important series both of pri-
mary and secondary rocks. To the south of the bay.
Primary Rocks alone occur ; which are remarkable
not only from their variety, but from the indications
of violence exhibited in the contortions of the strata,
the intrusion of granitic veins into the micaceous
schist, and the chemical changes which the schists
have suffered when in contact with the granite. The
primary rocks consist of a central ridge of granite,
on each side of which the micaceous and argillaceous
schists, the quartz rock, and mountain limestone are
arranged. This granite chain extends from Kings-
town on the North into the county of Waterford on
the South, a distance of nearly sixty miles.

" In the vicinity of Dublin the course of the
granite chain is well ascertained: it extends from
Dalkey Island to Black Rock, and from thence passes
southward to Dundrum and Rathfamham ; it then
crosses the Military Road behind Montpellier hill,
and running across the northern extremity of Glenis-
maule, forms the basis of Seechon, and consequently
supports the schist which constitutes the greater por-

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 7

tion of that hill. On the east, that is, next the sem
the boundary of the granite i& very apparent ; from
Dalkey it runs along the shore to Killiney, from
thence it runs inland to Rochestown hill, extending
in nearly a right line to the Scalp, passing on to
Glancree and Lough Dan, holding a southerly
course.

** This central granite ridge includes some of the
loftiest hills in the vicinity, they are, however, rivalled
by the adjoining quartz mountain, called the greater
Sugar Loaf, and the schistose mountains of Seechon
and of Djouce. This granite ridge is destitute of
the sharp and spiry outlines which so often charac-
terize mountains composed of this rock ; a circum-
stance apparently dependent on the inconsiderable
elevation of the hills, and also on the very decom-
posible nature of some of the kinds of this rock, which
disentegrate rapidly with exposure to the weather.

" The mineral nature of the granite in general ex-
hibits, nevertheless, but little variety, and is almost
completely free from hornblende or other ingredients,
not essential to its character. The felspar is for the
most part of a pearly whiteness, and forms a striking
contrast with the black mica. The stone is much
employed for architectural purposes in Dublin and
the vicinity, and considerable quantities of it are ex-
ported to Liverpool, and there employed for paving
the streets. Near Killiney, at the junction of the
granite with the schist, the quality of the former
is rather different from that obtained in the quarries
near Kingstown. It is harder; and the mica, in-

o GENERAL HISTORY OF

stead of occurring in plates, has assumed the form
of plumose mica. At Glancullen, Glenismaule,
&;c., the granite is more coarse-grained and the
mica is of light colour, forming large hexagonal
plates, sometimes half an inch in breadth. This
variety is less compact than the granite of Killiney,
and contains more felspar and mica ; hence, perhaps,
its more decomposible nature. In the vicinity of
Glenismaule the granite is often completely disinte-
grated for a depth of four feet or more ; and the de-
cay of the rock would proceed with great rapidity, if
the covering of peat did not afford a protection
against the destructive effects of the weather. This
decomposed granite sand is brought to Dublin under
the name of freestone, and is employed for scouring
and other domestic purposes.

" The mass of granite, whose limits have been de-
fined, is almost every where in contact with the mi-
caceous schist, both on its western and eastern flanks,
and the junction of the rocks may be studied at Kil-
liney, the Scalp, and Rathfamham. In the first of
these situations, the schist is seen resting on its up-
turned edges, on a basis of granite, and traversed by
numerous veins of that substance. As the granite
veins run in two directions they often intersect, and
one set runs parallel to the lamination of the schist,
while a second set cuts across the strata. Many of
these veins contain fragments of the schistose rock.
Along the line of junction of the two rocks, the schist
is much curved, and contains abundance of crystals
of chiastolite arranged in stelliform groups. The

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 9

schist is not the only rock which is in contaet with
the granite ; for, from Black-Rock to Dundrum, the
limestone succeeds the granite, and consequently the
whole series of primary strata are absent The ac-
tual contact of the two rocks has not been observed;
but at Black-Rock they are within a few jrards of
each other ; and the limestone is extremely compact,
consisting of angular fragments, as if it had been
shivered into small pieces and subsequently reunited.
The quartz rock of Shankhill, if not in actual con-
tact with the granite, is only separated from it by the
intervention of a thin film of micaceous schist ; and
at Ballinascomey, the argillaceous schist is not far re-
moved from the granite; but, as the two schists gra-
duate into each other, it is not easy to characterize
them, in every instance, by precise miheralogical dis-
tinctions.

" The Micaceous Schist occurs both on the eas-
tern and western flanks of the granite ; on the east it
commences at Killiney, occupies the eastern side of
Rochestown hill, and extends from thence to the Scalp,
where it is seen reposing on the granite, much con-
torted, and containing crystals of Andalusite. From
the Scalp, it passes to the west of Enniskerry, and
constitutes the rocks of Powerscourt waterfall ; and
still continuing its southerly direction, it passes by
the head of Glancree, constitutes Djouce mountain,
and may be seen in contact with the granite at the
upper extremity of Loch Dan. On the western side,
the micaceous schist commences at Rathfamham, and
the junction of the' two rocks may be seen, on the

10 GENERAL HISTORY OF

road side, near the commencement of the Military
Road ; it then runs across Glenismaule and forms the
mountain of Seechon.

^ The micaceous schist exhibits the usual mineral
characters of that rock, md consists of a mixture of
quartz and mica, in variable pr(^ortions. Sometimes,
alternating laminae of the two ingredients are so fine,
that the mica aj^ars to preponderate, and the quartz
is not so apparent : on the other hand, the quartz
sometimes attains the thickness of an inch, and almost
excludes the tiaica. Not unfrequently the quartz is
replaced by argillaceous laminae, and thus the rock
passes into an argillaceous schist; which, when in
contact with the granite, is sometimes changed into
hornblende schist. At Killiney the schist exhibits
a peculiar mode of decomposition, which it is diffi-
cult to explain. At first little circular depressions
may be observed in the schist, and as these enlarge,
little cavities are formed, often the size of an orange,
and giving the rock a remarkably corroded i^pearance,
as if it had been an amygdaloid which had lost its
mineral nodules. This, however, is not the case in
the present instance, for the cavities are not caused
by the falling out of nodules or portions of conglome-
rate, but appear to depend on some ill understood
concretionary structure.

*< The mica schist is followed by Argillaceous
Schist and Quartz Rock ; the former occurring on
both sides of the granite chain, whilst the latter is
only found on its eastern side : quartz rock also ap-
pears on the north side of the bay, constituting the

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 1 1

peninsula of Howth. The schist occurs in continuous
strata, which may be traced over a wide extent of
country, but the quartz rock is found only in detached
portions.

" On the eastern side of the granite ridge, the
argillaceous schist, being the outennost of the rocks
on that side, is bounded by the sea. The other mar-
gin of the clay strata is bounded by the micaceous
schist, and may be defined by a line drawn from
Shankhill and passing to Enniskerry, and to the west
of the great Sugar Loaf, and continuing in the same
direction beyond Loch Dan. It includes the country
around Bray, the Dargle, and Glen of the Downs ;
and also includes several extensive masses of quartz
rock, such as Shankhill, the two Sugar Loafs, Bray
Head, the Glen of the Downs, &c.

" On the western side of the granite ridge, the
commencement of the argillaceous schist may be seen,
beyond Rathfamham, where it is bounded by the
river Dodder, which separates it from the micaceous
schist ; it then passes to the west of Seechon till it
reaches the sources of the Liffey. There is often
considerable difficulty in tracing the junction of the
two schistose rocks, as they pass into each other by
insensible gradations, and have both been greatly
disturbed and contorted. The lower parts of the
argillaceous schists often pass into grey wacke schist,
viz., into schist containing fragments of schistose rocks,
which are fine in some cases, as near Bray, while
they are coarse conglomerates near the Tallagh Hills.

" Near the granite, these rocks undergo a very
remarkable change ; and, as we trace them, they gra-

12 GENERAL HISTORY OF

dually lose the stratified appearance, and even their
schistose structure ; they have become, in short, hard
and compact, passing into a very close*grained green
stone, consisting of hornblende and felspar, and, where
the crystals of felspar attain a larger size, a green*
stone porphyry is the result. In the ravines, portions
of schorl in acicular crystals are very common, but
they have not been traced to their source.

*< Lambay Island, to the north of Dublin, may be
included under the head of argillaceous schist The
island consists of strata of schist and beds of green
stone and porphyry. The schistose strata are much
indurated, and are contorted in a most intricate
manner, and these contortions occur both on the
minute and the great scale. These strata often
lose their stratified appearance and pass into green
stone and porphyry. The porphyry is sometimes
amygdaloidal, containing nodules of calcareous spar.
The crystals of felspar often exhibit a very peculiar
laminar structure.

" The Quartz Rock exists in two states, either
alternating with schist, and in that case decidedly
stratified, or destitute of all foreign intermixture, and
in these examples the stratification is very indistinct.
The hills composed of quartz rock are easily recog-
nized by their conical outline, a circumstance which
has served to give names to some of them. The
chief masses of quartz are Bray Head and Howth,
in which it alternates with schistose strata ; Shank*
hill, and the greater and lesser Sugar Loaf, in which
no schistose strata occur.

*' The quartz of the peninsula of Howth exhibits

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 13

the phenomenon of contorted strata in a very beau-
tiful manner. The stratification is very obvious, and
the schistose beds exhibit a great diversity of hues
from purple to red, thus rendering the contortions
more apparent. Some of the strata rest on their
edges, others are undulated, and sometimes curved
upon themselves, so as to resemble the concentric
crusts of some spheroidal concretion. The same phe-
nomenon is observable at Bray.

" The only secondary rock, that occurs in the vi-
cinity of Dublin, is the Mountain Limestone, which
constitutes all the country beyond the primary strata;
occupying the counties of Meath and Kildare, and
greater part of the county of Dublin. No limestone
is found in the county of Wicklow, and the farmers
of that county, on the eastern or sea side, obtain their
supplies from Howth or from the beds of stratified
calcareous alluvium, the only condition under which
limestone occurs in that county. On the opposite
side of the county the supplies of lime for building
and agricultural purposes are chiefly drawn from the
county of Carlow.

" The limestone exists in two very distinct states
in the vicinity of Dublin ; in the one it has the cha-
racter of the ordinary carboniferous limestone, con-
taining the usual organic remains; but near the
primary strata it is very impure, has a schistose struc-
ture, contains but few organic remains, and is the
Calp of Kirwan. The calp is distinctly stratified,
the strata seldom exceeding two feet in thickness,
and being separated by thin beds of slate clay. This

14 GENERAL HI8TX)RY OP

limestone, which is much used for architectural pur-
poses, occurs in many localities furound Dublin^ and
every where exhibits marks of contortion and vio-
lence. At Lucan there is a beautiful example of
(Contorted limestone strata; and equally interesting
instimces may be seen at Portrane, where the sea
coast has exposed numerous sectiodQs, in which the
nature of the ealp is fully displayed.

<< Besides the calp, magnesian limestone occurs in
a few localities, as at Howth, near the junction of the
primary and seecmdary strata, at Malahide, and on
the Dodder between Milltown and Classon Bridge.
This limestone contains no organic remains, but oc-
casionally, as at Howth, we find it contains imbedded
fragments of the mountain Umestone."

Some few occurrences of interest, respecting the
geology and mineralogy of particular localities, shall
be there respectively sUU;ed, to which subdivision of
the subject all botanic notices are wholly referred, as
are also some few remarks on the conchology.

The agricultural use and experience of the county
is greatly curtailed by the appropriation of so large a
portion of its surface to the enjoyment of the gentry ;
and, although the rocky basements of the hills are
yielding daily to the hand of industry and the pro-
gress of civilization, yet the vegetable productions are
not much augmented thence, as the reclaimed ground
is generally anticipated for country houses and plea-
sure grounds. The agriculture of the county, how-
ever, is not within the scope of this work5 and would
require the devotion of an exclusive volume, and

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 15

the investigation of one better acquainted with the
subject, than the author of this could profess to be ;
but the following table of the succession of its fistirs,
arranged in the order of the year, may not be deemed
unworthy of insertion.

Carrickmines, .... 1 2th January.

Tallow, 1st Tuesday in March.

Swords, 17th March.

Carrickmines (two days), . 14th and 15th April.

Skerries, 28th Do.

Balbriggan, 29th Do.

Bray, 1st May.

Rusb, 1st Do.

Lusk, 4th Do.

Garristown, 5th Do.

Balrothery, 6th Do.

Newcastle, 9tTi Do.

Swords, 9th Do.

Kilsallaghan, Ascension Thursday.

Fieldstown, Whit-Monday.

Carridcmines, .... 24th June.

Saggard, 1st Thursday after Tri-
nity Sunday.

Tallagh, 7th July.

Rathfarnham, ..... 10th Do.

Swords, 12th Do.

Ludk, 13th Do.

St. Margaret's, .... 30th Do.

Skerries, 10th August.

Balrothery, 12th Do.

16 GENERAL HISTORY OF

Grarristown, 15th August,

Palmerstown, 2l8t Do.

Ballyinore Eustace, . . . 26th Do.

Donnybrook, 26th Do.

Kilsallaghan, 8th Do.

Swords, 10th Do.

Balbriggan, 29th Do.

Rush, . 29th Do.

Bray, 20th September.

Newcastle, 8th October.

Rathmichael, 10th Do.

Saggard, 10th Do.

Carrickmines (two days), . 14th and 15th Do.

Ballymore Eustace, . . . 29th Do.

Grarristown, . . . . . 1st November.

Swords, 5th Do.

Saggard,. ...... 8th Do.

Tallagh, 9th Do.

Lusk, 25th Do.

Mr. Arthur Younge, in 1779, fixed the average
acreable rent in this county at £l 11^. 6d. making
thereby the annual rental of the whole, according to
his estimate of acres, £194,959- Double that total
might perhaps now be more correctly set down as such
rental, while the wages of the labourer varies from
five to nine shillings per week. As both these sub-
jects, however, formed substantive objects of local
inquiry for this work, the reader will be able to draw
his own conclusions from subsequent details.

The various antiquities, which have been suffered

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 17

to survive cover the face of the county, as churches^
abbeys, castle^ round towers, raths, cromlechs, crosses,
&c., are referred to the localities where they occur ;
and it here but remains to detail such records, as are
not peculiarly applicable to any of these localities, but
more or less co-extensive with the county at large.

In the historic notices of this portion of Ireland, it is not in-
tended to wander back to those dim periods when the merchants
of Phoenicia and of Greece, passing through the Straita<]f Gades,
braved the waters of a troubled ocean to traffic with the *' sacred
isle;" not that the intercourse, in its highest antiquity, is discre-
dited by the author of these pages, who has already, in his Essay
on Ancient Ireland, published in the Sixteenth Volume of the
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, solemnly certified his
allegiance to the opinion; but, in truth, the fanaticism of modern
charlatans and the lunacy of etymologists make e?en those most
cherished retrospects unwelcome and unaccredited.

The earliest accurate notice here cited, and that obviously^ de-
signates this district, is happilv to be found in a source with which
no scepticism in Irish antiquity can cavil, the not more elegant than
faithful and instructive pages of Tacitus. It occurs in his *' Life
of Agricola," whose observing eye, as he testifies, did not overlook
the political phasis of this « little isle of the ocean."

** Agricola," says the justly honoured historian, << passing over
in the first ship, subdued in frequent victories nations hitherto
unknown, and stationed troops along that part of Britain which
looks to Ireland, more in hope than fear, since Ireland, from its
situation between Britain and Spain, and opening to the Gallic
sea, might well connect the most powerful parts of the empire
with reciprocal advantages. Its extent, compared with Britain, is
narrower, but exceeds that of any islands of our sea ; the soil and
climate, as well as the genius and habits of the people, do not
much differ from those of Britain. Its channels and harbours are
better known to commerce and to merchants. Agricola gave his
protection to one of its petty kings, who had been expelled by
faction, and, with an affectation of friendship, retiuned him for his

18 GENERAL HISTORY OP

own purposes. I often heard him say that Irebtid could be con-
quered and held with one legion and a small reserve, and such a
measure would have its advantage even as regards Britain, « if Ro-
man power were extended on every side, and liberty taken away,
as it were, from the view of the latter island.*'

Here then in the zenith of that power, and even by Agricola
himself, Ireland was regarded with a deep and cautious policy, as
the depot where the imperial resources might be best employed,
and by whose possession, the chains not only of Britain, but like-
wise of Spain and Gaul, might be most effectually riveted. Here,
in the hope of realizing a wily speculation of its conquest, that
very Agricola is discovered, with an assumed friendliness, alike in-
jurious to his own honour and that of Rome, welcoming to his
camp one of the petty princes of that country, whom domestic
seditions had expatriated, insinuating himself into the confidence
of this Themistocles of the west, questioning him as to the re-
sources of the envied island, whose coasts and harbours he knew
were the resorts of merchants, yet assured by his informant, with
a cunning suited to his purpose, and which possibly might have
been warranted by a similar state of faction and disunion to that
which crowned Strongbow's incursion with success, that Ireland
could be conquered with a single legion ; while the fears of that
great commander are betrayed, lest the liberty, which was then
(Enjoyed in that country, as it were in the very view of Britain,
might {Prejudice the Roman tyranny in England, until, coerced by
these apprehensions, though unwilling to confess them, he stu.
diously fortified with peculiiar strength, and garrisoned with his
choicest forces, that part of Britain that looked to this important
quarter.

It is a flattering, a classical tribute to the nation, but neither
should the reproach of the record be overlooked ; — ^the remote
prescription of disunion which it sadly testifies. Would that
Irishmen, so long divided, could be taught the mutual errors that
even from that distant period continued to estrange them, that
threw them at the feet of every adventurer, who was encouraged
to their subjugation, distracted them from the enjoyment and
diffusion of those social atid political blessings which a gifted
country and k fine people should otherwise have insured ; and that

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN, 19

3(illy 88 bysom^ provoked dSspeiEis&ttoti of Providence^ l^ved them
<< in thick darkness, even darkness which may be felt," while
the children of the rest of the world have ^< light in thehr dwel«
Hngs."

The justice of Agricola's apprehensionSj and the prudence of
h^.policy, were fitted (obQ.ev.incpd in nfeiy ages after himself had
quit the scene, and it was from this very district that the Irish
chieftain Crimthan, mentioned hereafter at ^'Howthy^is said to huve
led those hardy bands of Scots, (for Ireland was the. only country
then called Scot ia*. and its people Scots,), whose efforts redut^ed the
Britens and British Romans to the verge of destruction and an«
nihi1a;tion, .as recorded by Ammianus Marcellinus^ CUiudian,
Gildas^ Zosimus, and Bede. . .

Nevertheless, tbe country of their succ^^ful opponents conti*
nued, throughout this. interval, utterly unknown to the Romans,
and it was only fh>m the Phoenicians, thobe merchants to whom
the notice i>{. Tacitus refers, that Ptolemy was enabled to give.tQ
the, world the accounts of the, situation and circumstances of Iror
land, which, he published in his Geography at the close of .th0
secoad.centiiiT. .^He. therein not oiily described, but deline^ed,
the shores, lakes, rivers, promontories, hills, and cities of Ireland,
with an accuracy *vbich bimaelf attributes to the discoveries con-
$equent upon the Phoeniciaa commerce thither,, and especially to
the information he received from Marinus of Tyre; and his lon-
gitudes and latitudes, names tod desoriptions of Irish places, are
accordingly more pure and correct than those of Strabo, or any
other Roman writer.

In reference to the district now defined as the county of
DubHn, this eminent. geographer .places, the £blaoi north of a
river, between th^ Ovoca and the Boyne (Buvinda), on which the
metropolis,. Eblana, is marked as situated ; while at its southern
side, and thence to the sea, the Cauci are allocated, a tribe whom
Ware and oth^ cpnsider of German extraction. The native
authorities, as collected in the Book of Lecan^ state in reference
to the same period, that the maritime part of this county north of
the Liffey, was ancient^ called Almain, and its inhabitants the
AloHml, while the southeni portion of the county is, by Jthe same
authorities, assigned to the Atadii.

20 GENERAL HlSTORIf OF

The Roman map of Ireland did, however, at length appear in
the *fth century, for to this period Richard of Cirencester attri-
butes that which he discovered in Italy, transcribed, as he says,
<* ex fragmentis quibusdam a Duce quodam Romano consignatiset
posteritati relictis." But even it, at such an advanced era, b by
no means so accurate as Ptolemy's, although very valuable as an
evidence of Roman ideas of Ireland. This, too, marks the Cauci
as inhabiting the southern part of the county.

Some few centuries after the establishment of Christianity in
Ireland in the fifth century, those districts of the country, known
by the name of CrocesB or Crosslands, were dedicated to the
church, and most extensive jurisdiction was given to the abbots
and bishops therein. Such were the Croce» of Ulster, Kilkenny,
Meath, Kildare, Louth, Kerry, Navan, Ferns, Carlow, Wexford,
Leighlin, &c., and such, more particularly as concerns this history,
were the Croce» or liberties of the cross of the Archbishop of
Dublin : and, as in England, the symbol of triumphant Christianity
was frequently set up to mark the boundaries of civil districts, so
in Ireland, but with more propriety, crosses, some of them very
handsomely ornamented, were erected to distinguish the eccle-
siastical possessions.

The cross lands of Dublin appear to have been partly in the
northern, and partly in the southern sections of the county, and
indeed the names of two of its baronies, so respectively situated,
Nether-Cross, and Upper-Cross, although not of course precisely
commensurate with the ancient croceae,* do still designate large
portions of their superficies, and exhibit, in the scattered and in-
sulated state of their component parts, the natural consequence of
uniting in one civil division tracts so adventitiously appropriated.
The Northern Crocese retain some of the actual crosses as at St.
Doulogh's and Finglas, while another, called pardon cross, is par-
ticularly recorded as having been erected at Swords, Clondalkin,
TuUagh, St. Anne's, the Kill of the Grange, Kiltuc, and Rath-

• For example, Holmpatrick, Lambay, and Ireland's Eye, were in
the Northern Croceae, though the first is now accounted in Balrothery,
the two last in Coolock Barony ; and Tawney, now classed in Rath-
down, was then in the Southern Croceae.

T«E COUNTY OF DUBLIN; 11

michael by similar emblems seem to demarcate somewhat of the
extent of the Southern CrocesB.

Crosses were in truth the first objects to which k was sought,
by various inducements and associations, to attach the reverence
of the people, and were multiplied according to the facility of col-
lecting Christian congregations. As they demonstrated ecclesi-
astical retreats and possessions, so did they also assert the dignity
jof ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and, when the guilty fugitive placed
himself within the cbrcle of their authority, and sat down in sin
and sorrow beneath their shadow, municipal punishment and pri^
vate revenge were alike disarmed. Such was the cross alluded te
as having stood near the archiepiscopal palace at Swords, and
which retained in the latest notice of its existence the epithet of
** pardon cross ;" such also appear to have been those two remark-
able specimens still visible inTullagh, as hereafter mentioned at that
locality. The sanctuaries, it may be observed, extended south,
east, and west of the adjacent churches, and accordingly, even te
this day, popular superstition particularly points to these direc-
tions, and never in any variation selects the unhallowed north for
interments. Crosses were likewise set up in market places to inw
dnce the attention of assembled worldlings to religious reflections,
and check the violators of temperance, honesty, and social order,
by the presence of that awful symbol of the Redeemer's sufferings.
. During the two centuries and a half of tyranny and military
despotism, in which the Danes and Norwegians were permitted
to crush the spirit of Ireland, the vicinity of Dublin suffered in a
particular degree by their harassing incursions, and even when
their general authority as a dominant nation was broken down at
the memorable battle of Clontarf, this county was especially ex-
posed to their predatory and revengeful assaalts. Of these latter,
the most remarkable occurred in the year 1070, when Godred
Crovan, a general under Harold Hardradfi, King of Norway,
having fled from England on the defeat and death of his royal
master at Stainford Bridge, after some months' sojourn in the
Hebrides, collected such a body of adherents as enabled him to
possess himself at first of the Isle of Man, and subsequently (ac-
cording to the Chronicon Mannia) of Dublin and the adjacent
country.

22 GEKERAL HISTORY OF

in iriie emuiiig^sentury, immediately after the eueoetaiid in-
vasion of the Earl of Clare, those, his fbUowen, who, by* Toyal
Kcense, were sufiered to carve out with their sword» the fature
-inheritance of their posterity, eagerly contended for the allocation
of that inheritance in the Yidnity of the metropolis of Ireland ;
and when, aubtequently^ King Henry the Second held his oeuii
4n the village ef Hegges, whidi, though now a poptdous street io
the heart of the ohy, sttR retains the rural name of CoUege-Grei^
'the claims of his Cavountes for subinfeudations in thb dtstcicl,
4uider the paiAmount Lord de Lacy^ were urged with "all the taeal
«and importunity which theselection merited^

There, wilh royal munificence the monarch confirmed the
grants of' Strongbow, adding new donations and endowments
with a liberality that laid the foundations of the greatest families
and religious houses in the county. There, while he sojourned,
the native chieftains gladly crowded into the pageantciee that
surrounded him^ the rights and wrongs of a natios were focgotten
in the splendours of his court, and the sterner qualities of the
Irish warriors melted away in the diffusion of sociid intercourse
and friendly communication. To them, strangers as they were
to the grandeur of feudal life, every thing wore an air of magaifr-
cent novelty ; the pastimes and revelries, masking, mumming and
strange shows, the << instruments of sound," the tih and tourna-
ment, the gorgeous ornaments, the tables replenished with such
varieties of viands, the wines and spices, the array of all the offi-
cers, the gentlemen, esquires, knights, and barons, in their rich
attire, glittering through the precincts of the court, or careering
over the field with their horses barbed and mailed, the king him-
self in all the attractions of condescension, and more than wonted
pomp, all contributed to beguile and delude the simple spectur
tors, they yielded to the spell of sumptuous indolence, and the
strong man was lulled in the lap of luxury.

The years that immediately succeeded carry a deep but me-
lancholy ipterest ^ feudal principles and passions were introduced
into the country, not with the magnificence and chivalry that are
their usual associates, but debased by the wants and necessities
with which they were mixed up, and stimulated into riotous deso-
lation by the impunity with which they might be exercised in this

T«H COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 23

then comparfiUveJy remote couatry. The epochs o| history hc^
e^me bec^coqs of guilt and oppression, and, like the crosses ih$/L
.maei tho trA?eUer in southern din^ates, but point wbece gnult had
done its wock* The oouotry, as far as ijt vas piecatioualy subr-
jectedto fofeign pover, was cantoned among adventwren, vboae
direct iotefest it was to exterminsle and debase the old iphabl-
taats. Strong to oppress, but feeble to govern, they persuaded
the Kjng of England that it i^ss uqfit to communicate the laws of
^t country to their victims in this, that it was the best p<^cy !•
hold them as aliens, aftd enemies, and to prosecute them wjlh. a
'Continual war* The historian of the Crusades remarks, that Irck-
ia«d was by -Hoary the Second connected with England, « sous
le titre d'esclave, plutot que de sujette." Indeed, it would seem
9» if nothing but the ueiressity of using the Irish as slaves and
viUeius prevented their utter extirpation, until at length* 9^
Sir John Davis remarks, " these large scopes of land and gisat
libertiesi with the absolMte power to make war ao4 peace, did
raise the English lords to that height of pridd and ambition as
that they cpuld not pndure one another/'*
,, Thu^ AS well among the English adventurers as the Irish
niLtiye^jffictioni^d civil ^ar had shed their baoeful seeds in a
soil uuhappUy too apt for such a harvest ; feuds and rebellions
sprai^ up lumiriautly in every province, the march of civiliution
was interrupted, and even the scanty streams of justice, which tho
betl^r^ p<4i(:y of government might from time to time have
permitted to flaw» we^e clogged or corrupted in their gloomy
phaunels^

Happily the times are come, when such scenes are but of
retrospect, the rising generation can recall them with thefeellnga
el the crew who had worked through the rocks and .survived the
storm* The tossing of the waves may yet be viable even in their
wake, but the prospect is clearing, and Religion, surrounded once
again with all all her Christian charities, like the Spirit of God,
is moving over the face of the waters..

It is confidently asserted, and does not seem improbable, that
in consequence, and as an exposition of the grants of Henry the

* Pavis*s Historical Relations, p. 64.

24 GENERAL HISTORY OF

Second, a rude survey of Ireland was commenced ; and, on its
completion, under the direction of King John, was, as it is said,
deposited in the Abbey of Graigtiemauagh. It was not, however,
until the year 1210, that the latter monarch erected this district
into a county ; about which time he granted to its commonalty,
and to that of the county Meath, the remarkable privilege of
common of turbary on the great bogs of Garristown and Bal-
rothery, as more particularly noted hereafter. From that period,
the county of Dublin always continued to be within the £ngUsh
Pale, of which, in truth, it long constituted the greater portion.
Its new character, however, did not extingubh the rights of the
Croceae ; their bounds, privileges, and jurisdictions, were not suf*
fered to merge in the civil division, and so absolutely was their
separation recognized, that even sheriflb were appointed for their
governinent, distinct from that of the surrounding portions of the
county.

In 1253, Prince Edward, the son of the English monarch, on
being married to the Infanta of Spain, was invested by his father
with the sovereignty of all that part of Ireland then under Eng-
lish dominion. This county, however, was, with that of Limerick,
and certam chief towns, excepted from the grant, while a remark*
able proviso was added, that the territories so conceded should
never be separated from the crown, but remain for ever to the
kings of England. The lands which were claimed or possessed
by the king's subjects in Ireland, were, thereupon, called the lands
of Lord Edward, and all writs ran in that prince's name.

In 1297, an ordinance of Parliament was passed, whereby,
reciting that the county of Dublin was too much disordered and
confused, and the parts of it too remote and scattered from each
other, to wit, into Ulster and Meath, and afterwards into Leinster
and the Vale of Dublin, &C., by which means it was less compe-
tently serviceable to the king in the execution of his precepts
and those of his courts, and also, his subjects were thereby not so
sufficiently ruled without a governor ; it was therefore agreed,
that for the time to come, there should be appointed a sheriff in
Ulster, as well of its cross lands, as to make executions in the
liberty of Ulster, when defect was found in the seneschal of that
liberty, and that the sheriff of Dubhn should not thereafter inter-

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 25

meddle in Ulster ; and it was also therebj agreed, that Meath
should be a county of itself, as also Kildare, and each freed from
the jurisdiction of the sheriff of Dublin.* Measures were hke-
wise then taken for ascertaining the limits and bounds of eadi
county respectively.

Hence it appears what alterations time had already made in
the counties established by King John in 1210, for, thoij^h that
prince had, amongst others, constituted as well the counties of
JKildare and Meath, as Dublin, yet, before the passing this ordi-
nance, it is manifest that the sheriff of the county of Dubh*!! exer-
cised his jurisdiction within both the others, as he did within some
part of Ulster ; a circumstance which probably originated in the
latter having been cantoned into palatinates, and governed by
seneschals of the lords palatine, who executed their powers so
loosely within their several jurisdictions, that the government,
who had the superintendence of the whole, found it often neces-
sary to interpose, and, by consent of the lords palatine, or by acts
of parliament now lost, to enlarge the jurisdiction of the county
of Dublin, and extend it into those parts where its sheriff had not
originally any control. The example, thus legalized, was subse-
quently of frequent adoption, and the jurisdictions of sheri£&
i^pointed within the Pale, were enlarged or diminished as the
extent of the English territory prevailed or declined.

In 1300, at a parliament held in Dubhn before Sbr John
Wogan, the commonalty of this county were assessed for the ser-
vice of the state to the amount of £100, with a special exemption,
however, of the cross lands, and the tenants of the clergy.

In 1 810, by writ, reciting that the said commonalty complained
of being prejudiced by pleas held according to the custom and law
of England, otherwise than according to the custom and law of
Ireland, Walter Cusack and his associates. Justices in Eyre of the
county, were directed to hold and decide all pleas in Eyre, and of
the bench, according to the law and custom of Ireland.f

In 1347 the king appointed Robert Lawless and others guar-
dians of the peace herein, with powers to assess and array its mili-

♦ Ware*8 Antiquities of Ireland, p. 36. t Rot. Pat in cane Hib.

2^ GENERAL HiSTOBV OP

^af y fof c^ a| req^ir^d, and to pr^foeed U» its worches lo resat
.ih^ ho§UUty iK^d ipvasioo of the Ii^ish.* Mainy sioiflar appocni*
jnppts oi^iHlr on the Roll» not necessary to detiuL

In l^ .William de Bftrtoo had 4 liberatei or DKmey order on
the treasury, for fortifying certain places on themafcherof Diib»
Jtin Kg^uuast t^o- Q'Byrne^^ {mi4 for-fiiroiabiog food and prorender
to the gairisooS't William de Corron was at this time qipcnnted
pucveyof in ^Is tounty, im»4 in those ^f Kildare and Meaih, for
Ihe army of the Lord Justice while warring against the Irish eno-
iQm of Leinster4 And in the same year the king oommanded
^e^guardi«n$ of the-pea^^ and coroners to convene twenty^fonr of
ihe <* probiof es" at an early day, one of whom said guardians^
coroners and <<fM:obiores" werct directed to eleeA as sberiC This
«Bode. of pop^lar nomiaaUon bad been abolisbed in England forty
years previously by the Act 9 Edw. II. St^ 2.

In 1359 Peter de Okebourn was appointed to purvey hake^
(<<aUepife") and other kinds of fi«h« wherever they coidd be fonnd
inthis county, for the use of the Lord Deputy's hoMehold^pay*
ing the reasonable value thereof.§

{n 137% on the occasion of convening the great council to b«
held in Dublin, the sheriff of this division wa^ directed to summon
Thomas Talbot Knight, John de la Field,

Nicholas Howth, Michael Darcy,

Reginald Talbot, John CrHiso»

John Talbot>.9f Malahide, (.aurence Woo41ock#

^p^f t White, of KiUester, Roger Uriel,

&c. &C kc

In 1374 this county return^4 its earhest recorded rqiresenta-
tives on the elective principle ; and in 1376, on the occasion of the
fnox^prf^l^ parliament which Edward the Third convened \o
ettend bifn << wheresoever he should be in England ;" and to which
ke^JC^^ired the sheriffs of the Irish counties to cause their respec?
tive representatives to be sent, the return of the precept iroai
tbis stated that Nichokis Howth, i. e. St. Laurence, and Richard

* Rot Pat. in cane. Hib. t R^ Clausrin eanerllib^

X Rot. Claus. in cane Hib. § Rot. Pat in cane. Hib.

THe COUMTY OF DUDLltf. 22

AKIiit^ had hfim diiljr cdecUd io &tte^d h& nuQeaiyy as ira^uii^d
bf hia writ, wkh f|iU power to tveat andcoujiadbafbrahimopibe
stafe and goTerDment of Ireland ) but that the electois prettaC^
againat thecebj giving any pover to 9aid J^SchoUs and Richard to
impose any biunlens or taxes upon the Commons of DMblin ; and
ibat aaid repreieatatiyes eleet- had accordtngly pledged tt^em^jsi
i0 . their copatit|ientS| that they should not vote for any ^uoh jmpor
4tioi^.* In the aame year, by writ, reciting, that the Ipng^a U^
subjects of Yongbai h^ beea devastated by the Roches and .Qao*'
gibbons, they were permitted to carry' thfee ship4oad8 of ooca
from any harboiir in this couiity> or in tbos^ of Meath or Louth,
for their jeljeftt'

In 1883 Richard Talbot» Nicholas Howth» Willii^ FiUwiUiam>
Thomas Marward, Johh Cruise, Reginald Talbot and Richard
MetterviUe, were appointed Guaediana of the Peace in this eovnty^)
. In 1386 Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the £»oiirite of
fikhard the Seoond> was created Marquis of Dublin s «nd by^th^
same patent, his weak-minded sovereign granted to bim and Ims
heirs the- entire dominion of Ireland, lo be held of ihe crown by
{iegaJiomage^ Th<^ lands and eiti^ fosmerly. jreservid to the
crown, and those hereditary in the nobles and barons of Irelandi
were indeed excepted ; and the Earl was bound, (^ as soon as he
should complete the conquest of the kingdom," to pay into the
English exchequer annually, during his life, the sum of 6000
marks. In every other particular he had the entire govemipeot
and dominion of the kingdom, was invested' with all the hinds he
shoidd gun by his arms, and empowered to appoint all officers pf
state and justioe, who were to act ia his name, and by his aMtho-
rity. The English parliament, possibly not displ^as^d that this
lord should be employed at a distance from the king, did not hesi-
tate to saaetion even thb important grant ; and in furtherance of

• This was not the first instance of such a convention. In 1S15, Ed.
ward the Second commanded Richard de Burgo, and other Nobles of
Ireland, to be at Westminster on the octave of the ensuing Hilary,
there to treat with the peers of England on (he state of (his country.
t Rot. in cane. Hib. X 11>»^-

28 GENERAL HISTORY OF

his dominion in the island, 500 men at arms and 1000 archers were I

equipped for two years' service towards its conquest, while his own
officers of state and council were at the same time employed upon
the spot in making the best provision for the object, which an ex- >

hausted treasury and a distracted government could peraut. The
Marquis proceeded in a stately progress almost to the shores of the
Irish Sea, accompanied by his royal patron ; but, at the crisb of |

separation, King Richard felt unable to bear the privation, and, |

recalling his favourite to London, the DMoagement of Ireland was
committed to his deputies. \

By a subsequent patent De Vere was created Duke of Ireland, I

with a new settlement of its sovereignty. This title, however, it '

did not seem politic to assume, and the acts of the favourite in this
kingdom were still issued in the name of the Marquis of Dubhn.
In that authority his deputies were appointed, and their salaries
and retinues assigned with the assent of his council ; and by that
title he renewed treaties with the Irish chiefs, and addressed let-
ters to several lords of the English soil, forbidding them at their
peril to maintain any private feuds or dissensions, and command-
ing them to unite in the general defence agfunst all malefactors^
whether English or Irish.

But this parade of sovereignty was short-lived. The princes
of the blood and the chief nobility of England confederated against
the king, and exacted a commission of the whole royal authority
to fourteen lords. The judges in vain essayed to pronounce this
delegation illegal ; the lords took up arms to support it ; and the
judges were condemned to die for their extra-judicial opinion ; but
as a favour and indulgence, some were banished with other ene-
mies of the triumphant faction into Ireland. The Marquis of
Dublin, after ineffectual efforts to rescue his royal master, was
defeated by the Earl of Derby, and driven into the low countries ;
whereupon the king was compelled to notify to his Irish ministers,
in 1388, that the late Marquis of Dublin had forfeited all his
grants ; that no acts of state were for the future to be executed
under his signet ; but that the King^s great seal was to be re-
assumed, and the whole administration of government conducted
exclusively under his name and authority.

THE COUNTY OP DUBLIN. 29

In 1399, the Commonalty of the County of Bublin having
elected Thomas Mareward for their sheriff, the king ratified the
appointment during pleasure.*

In 1402 Henry the Fourth renewed the commission of Thomas
Mareward as Sheriff of Dublin ; and appointed John Owen and
Robert Tyrrell to assess the military service, and array the men
at arms of the county and the cross-lands, to lead them to the
marches, when and where necessary ; as also to levy " smok-silver,''
a species of hearth money tax, for the expenses of watch and ward
in said county.f In the following year a similar authority empow-
ered Alexander Taylor, of Swords, John White, of Parnellstown,
and Richard Barret, of Finglas, to collect twenty marks, which the
Commonalty of the cross lands of Dublin had granted as a subsidy
for the support of 240 foot soldiers, for three months.^

In 1403 the King appointed Thomas Plunket and others to
superintend the collection of a subsidy, granted by the clergy of
the dioceses of Armagh, Dublin, and Meath, the chapters of
St. Patrick and the Holy Trinity, and the Commonalty of the
Crosses of this county ;§ and in the following year he assigned
Sir John Cruise, Christopher Hollywood, Thomas Sergeant, Tho*
mas Howth. Robert White, and John Owen, to convene the
** Magnates," " Piroceres,** and Commonalty of this county, as they
might deem necessary .||

In 1408 Walter Tyrrel, Sheriff, Robert Tyrrel, and Henry
Fitzwilliam,were,by royal mandate, directed to levy "smok-silvei*"
over this county ;^ and in the same year the sheriff thereof wad
ordered to institute inquiry as to all who exported corn or fish from
Ireland, without license.**

In 1414 the King appointed Matthew Lopping and ThomaH
Hall, Esquires, to' ascertain on oath the chattels of felons fled and
outlawed within this county, and the crosses of the same.ft In the'
same year John Saundre and John Hanley were appointed guar-
dians of its harbours, with the customary fees ; while Thomas
Talbot and other justices were directed to inquire, on oath, as to
certain offences committed in the county and the crosses thereof,

• Rot. in cane. Hib. t lb. Jib. Jib. ||Ib. fib.
•• lb. tt lb.

30 GENEBAL HIgTOttY OT'

as well in the times of EcHrafd the ThmJ, 'Ridutrd the Second,
and Henry the Fourth,, as of the then King.*

In 1417 a very remarkable menlortal issbed hence in behalf of
Lord FurnivaS, who was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
in the first yeir of the reign of Hehry the Fifth. He was the
Sir John Tidbot, of Hallamsbtre, afterwatds Earl of Shrewsbury,
so conspicuous as a warrior in the reign of Henry the Sixth, arid
received the title of Lord Furnival by courtly, in respect bf his
\iyife.

" For so hiuch," (states the doeuthent) " as th^ hondmrbie
Lord the LoVd of Furnival, yoiir faithful subject and lieutebant
of this your land of Ireknd, was purposed to depart from yorar
knd, and to repair to your high presence to sue for his payment,
which to him is behind, for the safe keeping bi this your Umd^
<Mid w0| considering the great destruction and disetoe which bath
come unto this land by his last absence from us, and eschewing
greater that may cume^ and are likely to fall upon the samci if
he should be absent at tins present time, we have requested him
on the behalf of you, our Sovereign Lord, and have supplicated
unto him in our own behalfs, to appear here, and hot to depart,'
for the safety of this your land, and of your faithftil lieges in the
same, and we to write for him to ypur gracious person for his
recommendations for the great charges, !id>ours> and travels by
him had and sustained in these p^s.

** First, your said Lieutenant, taking unto him the advice
of your council on this side, and of other Lords Temporal^
Knights, Esquires, and othe^ good Commoners, made mtoy great
joumies and hostings upon one of the strongest Irish enemies of
Leinster, called O'More of Leix, a great chieftain of this nation,
by being in his country twice, which was not done before in ou^
time, arid taking his chief place aiid goods, burning, foraging, and
destroying all his country, his coni^ asd his bther* goods, and
burning and breaking certain of hb castles callkl the Castle of
Colyndlragh, and the Castle of Shenneigh (Shean), and rescuing

' Rot. in cane. Hib.

THE COUNTY OP DUBLIN. 31

divers English pnsoaers there being, without paying ransom, and
womkUiig and kitting a great muUitnde of his people, and made
nch war upon him that he was forced against his will to make
petition to have your peace by indenture, and to put his son in
pledge into the hands of your said Lieutenant, to keep the peace
safely, and to «mend that wherein he had offiended against your
fiuthful subjects, and moreover to serve and travel with your said
Lieutenant, upon his warning, against all Irish enemies and English
rebels, at his commandment, so that by means theteof the sud
O'More came with two battalibns, one foot artd one horse, to serve
upon a strong enemy, and a chieftain of his nation called Mae
Maho;n, a distance of forty leagues from the parts of Leix, and
iie being with the same your Lieutenant, and under hb safe con^
duct, and in aid of him iu the aforesaid country of Leix, two
other great chieftains of their nations of Leinster, with their
-people, thai is to say, O'Bryen and O'Raslly, overthrown iti
i)var, do continue petitions to enjoy your peace*

« And«ko he rode against Mac Mahon, a great Irish enemy,
and a powerful chiefUdn of his nation, in the parts of Ulster ad«
joining onto the comity of Louth, and him did strongly invade
long time by divers laborious hosthigs and journeys, some on
foot by sixteen leagues, and burnt and destroyed one of his chief
places, with all his towns and corn about, and wounded and killed
a great multitude of his people, until he must of force yield him«
self to your peace, and deliver divers English prisoners without mat*
tomi which he and his people have taken, and that he undertook
to travel with the same your Lieutenant, against whateoever eneitiy
or rebel, upon ins warning, in such sort that he sent Manus, his
brother, ^th a great multitude of their people, to serve upon that
said (yConor, which is fbrty miles and more from their country.
And also be rode against O'Hanlon, a great chieftain of his mttioit,
knd Irish enemyv in the same parts of Ulster, and warred so
strongly upon him, that he was compelled by force to yield him*
ielf to your peace, and undertook to ride against all Irish enemies
and Ettglish rebels, at hb pleasure, in such sort that he did serv^
4Hlh three hundred men and more upon the aforesaid Mac Mahon^
and after I hat disloyally rose up again in wafs, and destt*oyed your
fitithfkl lieges, and presently your said Lieutenant therein or-

32 OBNERAL HISTORY OF

defed divers great journeys upon him in his country, where he
burnt, foraged, and destroyed many thereof, and wounded and
killed many of his people, and cut a great place through a long
wood, in breadth of two leagues or more, through terror of which
thing he daily made supplication to have peace, and put in his
hostages for the safe keeping thereof. The great O'Neile pre-
tending himself to be King of the Irish in Ulster, and O'Neile
Buy, son to Mac Guinness, Mac Guire, O'Donnell, great and
powerful chieftains of their nation, and divers other Irish enemies,
hearing of the cutting of the same place, and of the damage and
destruction done also to the said O'Hanlon, and doubting the like
to be done to them by your Lieutenant, sent to him to have peace,
and to do him service, and also to serve with him upon all other
Irish enemies and English rebels.

<< And also he caused in many places every Irish enemy to
serve upon the other, which thing hath not been seen by long |

time in these parts, until the coming of your Lieutenant aforesaid^
and he hath accomplished divers other journeys and labours for the
said relief and comfort of your faithful lieges on thb side the sea ;
and in especially at the making hereof in repairing and mending
of a bridge called the bridge of Athy, set in the fronture of the
borders of the Irish enemies of Leix, for the safe keeping whereof
he hath erected a new tower upon the same for a ward to put there-
with a great fortification about the same for resistance of the said
enemies, to the great comfort of the English, and great overthrow
of the Irish enemies, by which bridge your faithful lieges were
oftentimes preyed and killed : but now your said lieges both there
and elsewhere may suffer their goods and chattels to remain in the
fields day and night, without being stolen, or sustaining any other
loss, which hath not been seen here by the space of these thirty
years past, God be thanked, and your gracious provision. — And
moreover, we beseech your gracious Lordship, to have your said
Lieutenant especially recommended unto you for his great con-
tinual labours and costs which he hath borne and sustained about
the deliverance of the Earl of Desmond, who was falsely and de-
ceitfully taken and detained in prison by his uncle, to the great
destruction of all the country of Munster, until now that he is
gratuitously delivered by the good and gracious government of
the same your Lieutenant."

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 33

Thb singular picture of the state of Ireland, and the guilty
nisfgovemment of those viceroys, who are most extolled, is pre-
served in the Lansdowne Manuscripts, and printed in the Second
Series of Mr. Ellb's Letters (vol. i. p. 54, &c.) It is signed by the
Bishop of Kildare, sundry abbots and priors, Thomas Lenfant,
Baron of Ardee ; Richard Nugent, Baron of Delvin ; Matthew
Hussey, Baron of Galtrim ; Thomas Marward, Baron of Serine ;
the mayor and bailiffs of the city of Dublin, and several other
heads of corporations, the sheriff of Dublin, &c. ; Robert Burnell,
Robert White of Killester, Thomas Talbot of Malahide, Walter
Plunket, Richard Talbot of Meath, William Fitzwilliam, Morris
Walsh, Walter Harold, William Walsh, John Eustace, Edward
Eustace, Richard Fitz Eustace, William White of the county
Dublin, Thomas Cusack, Lucas Dowdall, &c &c. &c«

In 1422 the council in Dublin directed that on account of
<< the notorious war, waged by the O'Tooles on the liege men of
the counties of Dublin and Kildare, the same forces of men at
arms and archers should be continued as theretofore, to oppose
them, and the same subsidy raised.***

In 1429, by writ, reciting that Sir John Sutton, Lord Lieu*
tenant of Ireland, had lately made a successful incursion on the
O'Byrnes of the county Wicklow, at his own expense, for which
the sheriff of this county and its crosses was ordered to provide
100 « carts" of victuab, 800 men with axes and bundles of
wood, 100 men with " iron tools," and 200 with " caltrops ;" toge-
ther with victuals for six days, under certain penalties which
had been incurred by his neglect in that behalf, all said penalties
were by the king directed to be forthwith paid to the said Lord
Lieutenant.*

In 1431 his Majesty assigned Thomas Hanley and Thomas
Bathe to take the prisage of wines to the king's use, in certain
harbours within the counties of Dublin, Meath, and Louth.f

In 1465 it was enacted that every Irishman, dwelling betwixt
or amongst Englishmen, in this county, as well as in those of
Meath, Uriel, (Louth,) and Kildare, " shall go like to one Eng-

• Rot. in Cane. Hib. t Ibid.

34 GENERAL HISTORY OF

lishman in apparel, and shaving of his beard above the mou
and shall be within one year sworn the liege man of the ki
and shall take to Tiim an English surname of one town» as Sutt*
Chester, Trim, Serine, Cork, Kinsale ; or colour, as white, bla
brown ; or art or science, as smith, or carpenter ; or office,
cook, butler, &c., and that he and his issue shall use this nai
under pwn of forfeiting his goods yearly."

In 1488, by an act of the parliament of Drogheda, the bounds
" the four obedient shires," constituting the Pale ; (Dublin, Mea
Kildare, and Uriel or Louth,) were thus traced. " From Merric
inclusive, to the water of the Dodder, by the new ditch to St
gard, Rathcoole, Kilhell, Rathmore, and Ballymore, &c. Then
to the county of Kildare, into Ballycutlan, Harristown, and Na
and so thence to Clane, Kilboyne, and Kilcock, in such manr
that the towns of Dalkey, Carrickbrennan, Newtown, Roch<
town, Clonken, Smethistown, Ballyboteer, (Booterstown), wi
Thorncastle, and Bullock, were in Dublin shire." From Kilco
the bounds appear to have run to the Rye water, thence by Bj
lyfeghin to the parish of Laracor, thence to Bellewstown, by tl
Boyne, " and so as the Blackwater runneth from Athboy, and
to Blackcawsey by Rathmore, to the hill of Lyde, and then
Muldahege and the parish of Tallen, and Donaghpatrick, Clonge
and so to Syddan, and so down to Maundevillestown, by Wc
Ardee, and so to the water of Dundugan, and so as that wat
goeth to the sea."*

In 1500 the king appointed Robert Burnell of BalgrifBn, sh
riff of this county, committing the custody thereof to his care.

A state paper of 1515 mentions that only half of the count
of Dublin was then subject to the king's laws, and singularly add
that all the common people of the said half, who exhibited sue
marks of allegiance, were, " for the most part, of Irish birth, <
Irish habit, and of Irish language ;" that the other half had ne
ther justices nor sheriff. The document is eloquently indicativ
of the impolicy so long pursued in the government of thb country
of denying, or dispensing with a niggard hand, those measures (

• Liber Niger.

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 35

justice, which the neighbouring, and what good taste would have
styled, the sister island, so liberally enjoyed. Cimou is said to
have levelled his fences that all might gather his fruit, but the
EngUsh rulers of the Pale affected a diametrically contrary course.
The benefit of English laws was extended only with English en-
croachments. The writ ran not beyond the road that the sword
had hewn for its " transmission ;** and Sir John Davis establishes
without doubt, that this decided refusal of a general communica-
tion of rights was the true cause why Ireland was not brought into
subjection for centuries. If William the Conqueror had so cast
all the English natives out of his protection, and held them as
aliens and enemies to the crown, the Normans might, perhaps,
have spent as many troubled generations in the acquisition of Eng-
land.

About the year 1520, the Earl of Surrey, then Lord Lieu-
tenant of Ireland, acquainted the king with ** the imminent dan-
gers that were Hkely to ensue to the four shires, being under the
king's obedience, (DubUn, Meath, Kildare, and Louth,) as well
by reason of such confederacies as be made betwixt (yNeill
and others, the Irish rebels, as also with the Scots being deter-
mined to enter that land this summer under the conducting of
the Earl of Argyle, and to join with the said O'Neill and others,
the king's disobedient subjects, for the destruction and final ex-
termination of Englishry, which puissance, as he affirmeth, can-
not be resbted with such small number as the said Lieutenant
hath there."

In 1524, by indentures entered into on the appointment of
the Earl of Kildare to the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland, the said
Earl << granted" that he should cause sherifl&, escheators, coroners,
and other officers, to be made yearly in the shires of Dublin,
Meath, Louth, &c., and cause justices of peace to be appointed
within the same shires, or in as many of them as he might conve-
niently, and oblige them to keep quarter sessions yearly, and to
hear and determine suits, with the accruing benefit of all fines
and amerciaments.*

• State Papers temp Hen. Vm. Part 3, p. 116.

36 - GEN£BAL HISTORY OF

In 1534 the Lord Deputy and Council were directed to t
order, '< that gaols for receiving and keeping of felons and ot
malefactors, be ordamed within the counties of Dublin, Mei
Kildare, &c., in Leinster, and elsewhere as they may bring
same to purpose as well within franchises and liberties as otb
^ise. « Item, that in every of the said shires, and in the pla
aforesaid, and the marches of the same, there be quarter sessi
kept, and the king's judges ride the circuit there twice by
year, as shall be appointed in the commission by the Deputy i
der the great seal. Item, that the Deputy do his best that
king's writs and process may be obeyed, as well in the marc
of the counties of Dublin, Meath, and Uriel, (Louth), as in
other pUces aforesaid."*

In 1536 the Lord Deputy and Council made a report to
king in the following terms. " Without doubt, the inhabita
of these your four shires of Dublin, Meath, Kildare, and Ur
(Louth,) hath been so spoiled, oppressed, and robbed, as they
not of ability to give to your Grace any notable thing others
than they be charged already ; yea, and though they had never s
tained such damages, the circuit of the same, where, and in efl
no where else, the revenues that you have being now competent
according to the time and place augmented, been levied, in co
parison the residue is so small in compass and number of inha
bitants, as if they should grant to your Highness the twentit
part of their yearly rents, the same should not amount to any st
sum as should be to your Highness' contentacion in this beha
and your Majesty, having the same of them only, should, as
think, be such a servitude and hindrance unto them, they also <
ing service in their proper persons to all journeys without wag
besides many other exceeding charges and impositions, as tb
they should be the less able to do the like in time coming.
Wherefore our advice shall be to your Grace, for to frame t
Earl of Ossory and his son that your revenues may be levied in I
shires of Kilkenny, Tipperary, Wexford, and Waterford likew
as they be here, wherein to the contrary they have no reasonal
excuse, other than your subjects in these parts have ; and tli

• State P. p.rs, temp., lien. VIIL Part 3, p. 210.

THB COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 37

beiDg conibrmable theretinto, as they iniist be, if it be yoar gra-
cious pleasure the same may be leWed there ; and they then see*
ing the parties under their rule diarged thereto, will the more
willingly further the levying of your like revenues elsewhere, so
^9 your Highness having the same levied but within the said eight
or nine shires, together with the profits that may grow by the
resumption of your customs and otherwise, shall amount to a good
sum yearly ; and, considering that now the season of the year
mpproacheth wherein Englishmen cannot well travel to do service^
that unless your Grace intend a further enterprise, we think five
-or six hundred of your army may be discharged out of wages of
the worst of them, and your Deputy to choose out of the whole of
the best the number that shall remain* And, percase, your Grace
be in purpose to make a further reformation, as we think it be ho*
nourable, needful, and in the end profitable, at the least of these
parts of Leinster betwixt Dublin and Waterford, which, as we think,
might shortly be brought to a conformity and subjection if it were
earnestly set to, it shall be good your Grace, resolving yon there*
upon, appoint after what sort the same shall proceed; for the
execution whereof, we think it necessary and expedient that, con*
jsidering the most part of this army hath been so noseDed in rob-
bery, disobedience, and other offences, and also, their horses for
the most part consumed and spent, that others be appointed and
sent hither in their steads, which shall be more meet to serve
the purpose. Assuring your Highness, that having the said
quarter between Dublin and Waterford reformed, your own sub-
jects were able to resbt the residue of the land without exhaust-
ing or disbursing of any part of your treasure from thence. So
knoweth the blessed Trinity, who preserve your most royal estate
in long life and prosperous health. From your City of Dublin,
the 29th day of October. Your Highness^ humble and most
obedient subjects^

Signed^
Pour Leonard Gray. William Brabaxon.

J. Lord Trimleston, Chancellor. Gerald Aylmer, Justice.
George Dublin, " your Grace's Thomas Luttrell, Justice.

Chaplain." Patrick Finglas, Baron.

J. Rawson, Prior of Kilmainham. John Allen, Mr. of the Rolls.**

38 GENERAL HISTORY OF

In 1687, Justice Luttrell thus earnestly represented the rmnou!
consequences of extorting coyne and livery in this county, and th<
Pale generally. — " Item) all lords and gentlemen and farmers, i
they be horsemen of the four shires, (very few excepted,) thai
dwell without these limits hereafter mentioned, that is to say.
from Dublin to Tallagh, and so by the mountain foot untc
Oughterard, and thence unto St. Woolstans and to Leixlip, anc
thence to the barony of Dunboyne, Rathergan, and as the high'
way extendeth thence to Trim unto Athboy, and from Athboy tc
Ardbraccan, and from Ardbraccan to Slane, and from Slane tc
Mellifont and to Drogheda, and so as the sea extendeth to Dub-
lin, taketh horse meat and man's meat for their horsekeepen, anc
for all other horses and their keepers that resorteth to their houses
upon their poor farmers continually, which little precinct is nol
much above twenty miles in length nor in breadth : and yet, withit
the same precinct, many times both some lords and gentlemen settetl:
the charge of their horses and their keepers over their formers.'^
—-In the same year, Richard Savage was appointed Chief Serjeant
of the baronies of the county of Dublin, and of the royal cantrec
of Newcastle, near Lyons.

In 1559, Christopher, the twentieth Lord of Howth, was joinec
in commission with Hugh, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord ChaU'
cellor, John Plunket, Esq., Chief Justice of the King's Bench
James Bathe, Esq., Chief Baron of the Exchequer, the Lore
Mayor of Dublin, Richard Finglas, Sergeant at Law, James Barne*
wall. Attorney General, William Talbot, of Malahide, Esq.
Christopher Barnewall, of Gracedieu, Esq., James Stanihurst
Recorder, the Sheriff of the county of Dublin, &c., for mustering
the military force of this county. — In the following year, Baroi
Finglas and Thomas Fitz Williams were its representatives in (
parliament, to which only those of ten. counties were summoned
the rest of the assembly, to the number of seventy-six, having beer
citizens and burgesses of the towns in which the royal authority
was predominant ; and in this parliament the Act of Uniformity
was passed.

In 1561, the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Deans of his twc

♦ State Papers, temp. Hen. VIU. p. 504.

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN. 39

cathedrals, were appointed with others to array the militia of this
county, during the absence of the viceroy, the Earl of Sussex,
who was at that time engaged in the North against O'Neill.
And in 1563, Lord Howth was, during the absence of the Lord
Lieutenant, who had marched into Ulster against Shane O'Neill,
again joined in a commission for the civil government of the city
and county of Dublin, the confines and marches thereof, as well
within liberties as without, with power to pursue all rebels with
fire and sword, and all who should attempt any mischief against
the Queen's subjects within the English Pale.

A manuscript of the same century, yet extant, defines this
county as extending in length from Balrothery to Arklow, << a
principal Castle of the Earl of Ormond," including all the King's
lands, the mountains of the O'Byrnes, O'Tooles, and Rainilough,
called Pheagh Mac Hugh's country, also Shilough Ferderough,
and the rest of the country which is the Liberty of the Arch-
bishop of Dublin^ also the islands of Lambay, << the Eye," and
Dalkey. It enumerates the gentry of English descent therein,
as,

The Archbishop of Dublin. /^Malahide.

St. Lawrence, Lord of Howth. ) Belgard.

Sir Patrick Bamewall, of Turvey. ^^^^^ ^^1 Templeogue.
Sir Thomas Fitc Williams. ^Fassaroe.

William Bathe, junior.] — - Walsh, of Carrickmain.

Richard Nelterville. Sir Henry Harrington.

Allen of Palmerstown. Jacques Wingfield.

Christopher Seagrave. Sir William Collier.

Sergeant Fitz Simons. The Dean of St. Patrick's.

Henry BumelL Gouldings.

Finglas of Walmestown. Luttrels.

Barnewalls of Dunbro. Delahoydes, and

John Walsh, of Shanganagh. Archbolds.

" The mere Irish," are thus stated,

O'B^Tnes, O'Tooles, Pheagh Mac Hugh.
" Mgst part of the Irish," it adds, " are worn away, their heads
being removed, so as they now run wandering and straying about
the country in companies, having no certadn abode."

^ GENERAL HISTORY OF

This curious record enumerates the following as " walled ai
good towns :" Dublin, Swords, Balrothery, Howth, Newcastl
Bray, Clondaikin, Wicklow, Fieldstown, and Ballymore. Ai
the following as castles and garrisons : Dublin, Wicklow, Nei
castle, Howth, Arklow, Douore, Monkstown, Holmpatrick, tl
Wards, Belgard, Castleknock, Malahide, Dunbro, and Balgriffi
It may be here remarked, that by a statute of the thirty-sixth ye
of Henry the Sixth, (1458,) reciting that divers towns and villag
in Ireland, on the highways, were made waste by the robbery
thieves in the night by default of enclosure, stopping, and ditci
ing, it was enacted, << that every inhabitant thereof might sto
ditch, and enclose the said towns and villages in the strongc
manner that they could, so as there should be a competent ai
sufficient highway left and made for carts and carriages throu|
or near the said towns or villages, so that people might not I
interrupted in their passage from market to market, nor that tl
highways be not made far about, not above forty perches."

During the latter part of the reign of Elizabeth, a fine of oi
shilling per week was levied on every person within this count
who absented himself from the Protestant worship.

In 1601, on occasion of the hosting for the Queen's servic
the muster in the baronies of this county was as follows : Bj
rothery 26 archers, Coolock 30, Newcastle 18, Castleknock 1
and in Rathdown 10, besides 12 horsemen.

By a statute of 1634, (10 Chas. 1, Sess. 2, c.24,) recitii
that the trade of fishing for herrings, pilchards, and scan fish wit
in the counties of Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford, Cor
Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and other counties with
this realm, had of late time been very great and profitable
well to divers of the fishermen as other his Majesty's su
jects, that for the necessary use of the taking of said fish, dive
persons within the said counties called balkors, huors, condoi
directors, or guidors, at the fishing time had used to watch 4
the high hilb and grounds near adjoining to the sea coasts, to gi
notice to the fishermen when such fish came near the coast, ai
for guiding them on the sea coasts, and that divers persons, ha
ing lands adjoining these coasts, threatened to sue not only su
balkors, huors, &c., but also the fishermen for breaking tin
closes and drawing their nets on their lauds, so as to deter sa

THE COUNTY OP DUBLIN. 41

balkors, huors, &c« and fishennen ; for remedy thereof and
tbe maintenance of the said trade of fishing, such practices were
declared lawful; and, if any suits so threatened should be brought,
it was directed that the statute might be pleaded in defence with
the consequential sanction of damages and costs.

In 1640, proclamations issued to restrain hawking and hunting
"within seven miles of the metropolis.

In November 1641, when the lords justices and council
affected a shew of confidence in the gentry of the Pale, and gave
commissions of martial law, they directed one for this county to
Henry Talbot, and a commission of government for the same to
Nicholas BamewalL The latter warrant, after reciting that divers
most disloyal and malignant persons within Ireland had trai-
torously conspired against his Majesty, his peace, crown, and dig-
nity, and in execution of their conspiracy had made destruction
and devastation of the persons and estates of divers his Majesty's
good and loyal subjects, empowered the person so commissioned
to levy within the prescribed county all forces, horse and foot, to
resist, kill and slay, << as well by battle or otherwise," all traitors
and their adherents according to his discretion, to proceed against
them by martial law by hanging them, according as it had been
accustomed in times of open rebellion, to waste and spoil their
castles, &C. or otherwise to receive their submissions and give
them forbearance, to parley with them and grant protections, &c.
And all his Msyesty's sheriflEi, oflBcers, &c. in the said county
were thereby ordered to obey and be assisting in the premises.

The vicissitudes and changes of property that " followed hard
upon" the civil war of this period, shall be fully detailed in the
progress of the work, at the respective localities affected by its
visitation. The total amount of profitable land forfeited on that
occasion in this county alone, was returned by Sir William Petty
as 67,142a. 2r. 26p., the unprofitable as 1,666a.; the commons
lying between forfeited and unforfeited lands as 706a., and the
glebe and church lands as 4yd79A. In relation to these forfeitures
it may be remarked, that the Down Survey, and the Books of Dis-
tribution of the confiscations in this district, have escaped the fire
that so much impaired the maps of other parts of Ireland, and are
preserved in a perfect state.

42 GENERAL HISTORY OF

In June, 1654, Oliver Cromwell issued a writ to the sheriff
this county, as he did to some other Irish sheriffs, stating thai
parliament was to he held at Westminster in the ensuing Septei
her, and commanding him to cause a fit person « to serve as knigl
with his sword girt, for said county, so that the said knight mi
have full and sufficient power for himself and the people of th
county, to do and consent unto those things which then and the
hy common council of the said commonwealth in parliament (I
God's blessing) shall be ordained upon the weighty affairs afor
said;" which writ was duly executed and returned in the Augu
following, and ColonelJohn Hewson,*of Luttrellstown, was elect(
accordingly. The indenture of certain freeholders, annexed i
the return of the writ, after stating the election of Hewson, coi
tains the curious proviso: <<provided> and it is hereby d<
dared, that the person so chosen shall not have power to alt<
the government as it is now settled in one single person and i
a parliament."

There are in the state ps^per room council office, baronial r<
turns made in 1656 to the Protector's council for the affairs <
Ireland, specifying the Roman Catholic proprietors of Und in th
county. There is also its rental, taken in 1670, preserved in tb
vice treasurer's office. The difficulty, however, and expense <
access to these and other public offices, completely precludes in
vestigation for literary purposes, while possibly such records woul
be rather matter of legal and personal value, than suited for popula
publication. The quantity of lands forfeited in this county in th
civil war of 1688, was returned by the trustees as 34,536 acres
then valued at the annual rental of £16,061 6s. OcL^ and the tot^
value of £208,796 18^. Od. The particulars of this transfer o
property also shall be detailed at the localities affected, the map
and abstracts of which are likewise of record, and mostly in goo<
order, but not certified.

There are some who would pronounce the publication of thes<
forfeitures and attainders as futile, if not mischievous, as if thei
recital and specification could be supposed to invite and guide th<
landless heirs of thq old proprietors in the summary prosecution o

• See of him, post, at "Luttrellstown."

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

less civil ejectments ; while it might, with more probability, be ap-
prehended, that unfriendly feelbgs would be thereby excited,
and family feuds warmed into venomous resuscitation. The first
grounds of objection were dismissed with little deference. Even if
the heirs of the old proprietors could be now ascertained beyond
the contention of kindred houses, they would be found commin-
gled with the new in other relations of property and alliance,

"That could not — would not be undone;**

marriages, debts, devises, purchases and tenancies, settlements,
mortgages, wills, conveyances and leases, operating over those
estates for nearly two centuries in reference to the forfeitures of
1641, and nearly a century and an half in reference to those of
1688, have raised up such reactions of interest, such occupancies
in the new superstructure, as it would be irr^itional to think its
present possessors would combine for its dilapidation.

The latter objection is unhappily too well justified by the long
continued factions that have grown out of these civil wars. An
Englishman cannot conceive how private passions could be incited
into deadly operation in the nineteenth century by the suggestion
pf those war-whoops that fired the yoong blood of the sixteenth.
He would shrink from the maniac, who would seek to provoke him
to hostility with his neighbour friend, because their long <<6heet-
ed ancestors" had been pitted in the wars -of the Roses. The
historian of Scottish events encounters political junctures, that in
their time were equally productive of national disunion, but the
Caledonian is no longer exasperated by their fullest details. They
were the workings of a conflict gone by, and must be more old
and obsolete than the cherished and harmonious associations of
^< auld lang syne." The master spirit of their chronicles, he who
has not left a line behind him that could reproach his memory, has
fearlessly projected the most heart stirring conflicts of those feudal
times, and his countrymen more than participate with the literary
world in the chivalries of his narrative, and the classic interest he
has shed over every scene he touched.

Unfortunately it has not been so hitherto in Ireland. When
national conflicts subsided, family factions sprang from their ashes,
and 80^ with more than phoenix perpetuity, have protracted their ex-

44 GENERAL HISTORY OF

istence almost to the hours of yesterday. £ven the name of re
gion was profanely advanced as a sanction for persecution : b
the mask soon became the mould, and> to all but the wearer, exl^
bited with fiendish fidelity the lineaments it was intended to co
ceal. The political mirror has, however, at length been held u
and vice begins to see its own deformity.

Confident, therefore, that the feelings adverted to shall, b
fore those pages issue from the press, be confined to a class
persons not likely to peruse them, suggestions of unwelcome co,
tingencies have been overruled, in the paramount necessity
leaving unbroken what may be called the most important lin!
in the pedigree of Irish property.

The gentry of the county at the close of the seventeeni
century, as far as enumerated in the Act of Subsidies and Su]
plies, (10 Will. III. c. 3,) were. Sir Richard Bulckley, Sir Thorn
Domville, Sir Arthur Cole, baronets ; Sir Walter Plunket, S
William Domville, Sir John Coghill, knights; Robert Mole
worth, Henry Montgomery, Richard Foster, John Allen, Robe
Echlin, Dixy Coddington, Agmondisham Vesey, Henry Coole
Richard Bolton, John Smith, Robert Curtis, Philip Savag
Henry Echlin, Doctor Patrick Grattan, Thomas Keightle
Christian Bor, Marmaduke Coghill, James Grace, &c. &c.

The last century presents scarcely any event of interest peci
Harly applicable to the county at large. It may, however, I
mentioned, that in 1729 it gave birth to Hugh Hamilton, wl^
became a fellow of Trinity College in 1751, was appointed Bishc
of Gonfert in 1796, Bishop of Ossory in 1799, and was auth<
of several works of divinity and natural philosophy.

In 1736, the number of Protestant families in the count
was calculated as 1928, and the Roman Catholic as 6336, beir
in the proportion of nearly one to three.

In 1763 the first act of importance was passed, authoriziii
the peculiar assessment of this county, for the repairs of higl
ways, &c, according to the ancient table by which it had froi
time immemorial been assessed to subsidies and other land taxe
The statute is the more worthy of notice here, as furnishing th;
scale of parochial, baronial, and acreable contents, which has h
therto been the only, but erroneous guide for statistical inquir
A subsequent act, 26 Geo, III. c. 14, confirmed the provisions <

y A

.^*'

rP*'

;^5^e.s^!:;iv;.is^!>

-*r;^:^''>«"

■.cVf->'^>l> ""■■»"

46 GENERAL HI8T0RT OF

1699 Nicholas Barnewall, of Turvey, and Peter Barnewall, of

Tyrebure, Esquires.
1654 (Cromwell's parliament.) Colonel John Hewson.
1661 Sir William Domville, Attorney General, and Sir William

Usher.
1689 (King James's parliament.) Simon Luttrell, of Luttrellstown,

and Patrick Sarsfield, jun. of Lucan, Esquires.
1692 John Allen and Chambre Brabazon, Esquires.
1695 Robert Molesworth and Edward Deane, Esquires.
1703 John Allen and Joseph Deane, Esquires.
1713 Right Honourable Chambre Brabazon, commonly callec

Lord Brabazon, and Joseph Deane, Esquire.
1715 Honourable Edward Brabazon and the Right Honourabl<

John Allen.
1717 William Domville, Esquire, (on the Honourable Edwan

Brabazon becoming Earl of Meath,) and the Right Ho

nourable John Allen.
1719 Honourable Edward Brabazon and Wm. Domville, Esquire
1727 Honourable Edward Brabazon, and Sir Compton Domvilh

Bart.

1761 Right Honourable Sir Compton Domville, Bart, and Ai

thony Brabazon, Elsquire.

1762 Right Honourable Sir Compton Domville, Bart., and i\

Honourable Henry Brabazon, commonly called Lord Br

bazon.
1765 Right Honourable Sir Compton Domville, Bart., and t1

Honourable Anthony Brabazon, commonly called Lo

Brabazon.
1767 Honourable Anthony Brabazon, commonly called Lord Br

bazon, and Charles Domville, Esquire.
1769 Honourable Anthony Brabazon, commonly called Lord Bi

bazon, and Joseph Deane, Esquire.
1773 Joseph Deane and Luke Gardiner, Esquires.
1776 Luke Gardiner, Esquire, and Sir Edward Newenham, Kn

1790 Right Honourable Luke Gardiner, and the Honoural

William Brabazon; and on the latter becoming £arl
Meath, John Finlay, Esquire, was elected in his place.

1791 Sir Edward Newenham, Knt , and Richard Wogan Talb

Esquire.

THE COUNTT OF DUBLIN.

1792 Sir Edward Newenham, Knt., and John Finlay, Esquire*
1797 Hand Hamilton and Frederick John Faulkinery Esquires^

both of whom voted against the Union.
1807 Hans Hamilton and Richard Wogan Talbot, Esquires.

1824 Richard Wogan Talbot and Thomas White, Esquires.

1825 Richard Wogan Talbot and Henry White, Esquires.
1880 Lord firabazon and Henry White, Esquire*

1883 Christopher Fitzsimon and George Evans, Esquires.

SUCCESSION OF THB SHEBI7F9 OF THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN,

{As far at ascertained,)

1302 John Woodlock.
1826 John Brett.
1336 Adam Talbot.
1356 Robert Cadell.
1872 William Fitz William.

1380 Reginald Talbot.

1381 Richard White.

1382 William Fitz William.
1388 Richard Talbot.
1396 William Ardem.
1403 Thomas Mareward.
1406 John Fitz Maurice.
1408 Walter TyrreL
1425 Sir Walter Tyrrel.
1427 Sir Robert Hollywood.
1500 Robert Burnell.

1545 Toole.

1560 Sir Christr. Barnewall.
1600 Sir Christopher Flunket.
1613 Sir Thomas Williams, knt.

1615 Perrott.

1634 William Sarsfield.
1639 PhiUp Here.

1642 Thomas Bennett.

1643 William BaU.'

1647 Henry Roulls.
1653 John Hewson.
1661 John Baxter.
1663 Richard Barret.
1665 Sir William Dixon.

1668 Chidley Cooie.

1669 Nicholas Bolton.

1670 Daniel Wybrants.

1671 John Eastwood.

1673 Robert Ball.

1674 William Basil.

1675 William Williams.

1676 John Linegar.

1677 Joseph Deane.

1678 James Springham.

1679 Edward Swan.

1680 Thomas Stepney.

1681 Robert Molesworth.

1682 Sir Phillips Coote.

1683 Daniel Reading.

1684 Sir R. Bellingham.

1685 Thomas Crowe.

1686 Henry Fernley. -

1687 Thomas Warren.

1688 John Stanley.

GENERAL HISTORY OP

1689 Thomas Warren.

1690 Richard Forster, July 10,
by K. William, in the camp
at Cnimlin.

1691 John Allen.

1692 Edward Deane.

1693 Sir Anthony Piercy,

1694 Richard Morris.

1695 Dixie Coddington.

1696 Thomas Stepney.

1697 Bernard Browne.

1698 Hugh Rowley.

1699 Christian Bor.

1700 Paul Davis.

1701 Edward Swan.

1702 William Usher.

1703 Charles Wallis.

1 704 Henry Percy.

1705 John Sale.

1 706 John Linegar.

1707 Sir John Rogerson, knt.
1708 Plunket, of Rath-

beale.

1709 Sir Rich. Kennedy, Bart.

1710 Richard Bolton.

1711 Robert Stubbers.

1712 FoUiott Sherigley.

1713 Clement Barry, of Sag-
ged.

1714 William Thornton.

1715 Francis Harrison.

1716 Richard Tighe.

1717 David Chaigneau.

1718 Robert Peppard.

1719 Samuel Hill.

1720 John Nevill.

1721 John Falkiner.

1722 Thomas Grace.

1723 Edward Bolton.

1724 Sir Compton Domville, of
Templeogue, Bart.

1725 Richard Forster.

1726 Richard Elsington.

1727 John Baker.

1728 William Smith, of Lissen-
haU.

1729 Benedict Arthur, of Ca-
bragh.

1730 William Swan.

1731 Robert Percy.

1732 Allen Johnston, of Kil-
ternan.

1733 William Usher, of Usher's
Island.

1734 Jeremiah Donovan, of
Little Bray.

1735 John Sherigley.

1736 John Vernon of Clontarf.

1737 Thomas Granger.

1738 John Cusack of Rathgar.

1739 John Bonham.

1740 Robert Dalway.

1741 Arthur Mervyn of Bald«
winstown.

1742 Mark Synnot of Drum-
condra-lane.

1743 Allen Johnson of Kilter-
nan, jun.

1744 Thomas Dance of Bally-
boghill.

1745 Charles Davys of Hamp-
stead.

1746 John Gore Booth.

1747 Lewis Jones.

THE COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

1748 John PuUaod.

1749 HamUtoQ Gorges of Ratli-
bede.

1750 Thomas Jones.

1751 Mason Gerard.

1752 Isaac Dmry.

1753 Joseph Deane of Tyre-
nore.

1754 John Adair of Kilteman.

1755 Edward Maunsell of
Rochestown.

1756 WUliam Busk.

1757 William Fairbrother.

1758 Thomas Cobbe of New-
bridge.

1759 Robert Tynte of Old
Bawn.

1760 SirSimonBradstreet, BmH.

1761 John Onge.

1762 Sir Henry Echhn.

1763 Edward Newenham.

1765 Richard Robins of Old
Connanght.

1766 Abel Onge.

1767 Wflliam Jones.

1768 Edward Vernon.

1 769 Isaac Espinasse.

1770 John Malpas.

1771 Joseph Sirr.

1772 Richard Anderson.

1773 Sir George Ribton.

1774 Thomas Baker.

1775 Thomas Kennan.

1784 W'dliam Holt.
1786 Nathaniel Warren.

1787 Smith Steele.
JohnTniL

1788 John Venioii.

1789 Charles Stanley Monk.

1791 Edward Kennedy.

1792 Joseph AtkioHMi.

1793 Jooeph Paul Meredith.

1794 Sir George aKeDy.

1795 George Vesey.

1796 DaTid Latoadie.

1797 Christopher Clindu

1798 Alexander Kirkpatridu

1799 John Gamett.

1800 John White.

1801 John Faolkner.

1802 Right Hon. R. Annesley.

1803 Hans Hamilton.

1804 Lake White.

1805 Robert Alexander.

1806 Robert Shaw.

1807 John Hamilton.

1808 Andrew Savage.
Richard Manvers.

1809 Alexander Hamilton.
Hon. Hans Blackwood.

1810 John Arthur.

1811 John CampbelL

1812 William Rathbonme.

1813 Sir H. Wilkinson.

1814 John Hamilton.

1815 William James Alexander.

1816 Sir Compton Domville.

1817 James John Hamilton.

1818 Hon. Eyre Coote.

1819 Richard Verschoyle.

1820 Sir Richard Steele.

OENEBAL HISTORY, ETC.

1821 Charles CoUbe.

1822 George Woods.

1823 John Kennedy.

1824 Sir John Bibton.

1825 John Dsvid Lstouche.

1826 Joshua Spenser.

1827 Thomas R. Needhaaa.

1828 Hon. Edward Wmgfield.

1829 George Bfans.

18d0 Hon. Thoutt Bamewall.

1831 Sir JosiahCCogbilL

1832 James Hans Hamilton.

1833 Richard Bfanders«

1834 Fenton Hort.

1835 Lord Brabazon.
1886 Sir William Pahner.

THE FIRST EXCURSION,

With which this History commences, enters at once
into

THE BARONY OF COOLOCK,

a district immediately adjoining the liberties of the
metropolis at their northern boundary, washed on
the east by the Irish Sea, into which it projects the
fine promontory of Howth, bounded at the north by
the baronies of Balrothery and Nethercross, and on the
west by that of Castleknock. According to the be-
fore-mentioned return of 1824, this barony contains
twenty parishes and one part of a parish, subdivided
into eighty-two townlands or 20,940 acres, of which
2,398 are therein set down as waste.

The parislies enumerated are, St. George's, (in
connexion with the city,) Grangegorman, Artane,
Beldoyle, BalgrifEn, St. Doulogh's, Cloghran, Clon-
tarf, Clonturk, Coolock, Glasnevin, Howth, Killeigh,
Killester, Killossery, (part,) Kinsaly, Malahide, St.
Margaret's, Portmamock, Ratheny, and Santry, to
which the Down Survey adds parts of Finglas and
Swords. Such of these as are maritime gently slope
to the water, occasionally undulated, but, with the
exception of Howth and Carrickhill on the sea, Fel-

52 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

trim in the interior, and the islands of Lambay and
Ireland's Eye, the barony does not exhibit any emi-
nence of importance. The whole district, exclusive
only of Howth, may be said to rest upon limestone,
and appears to derive its name from the woods which
formerly shadowed its surface.

In reference to its annals, it would appear that this was a por-
tion of the earliest barony erected by that title in Ireland, King
John having granted the archiepiscopal estates, and particularly the
lands of Coillagh, comprising, it would seem, not only large tracts
in Coolock, but also portions of district in the southern parts of
this county to the Archbishop of Dublin and his successors, to
hold in barony tenure, whereby the prelates of this see became
lords of parliament ; and in a subsequent royal charter to the said
Archbishop occur the confirmatory words, " and for this grant,
and for thelandof CoiUach, the said Archbishop gave me sixty marks
of silver." Thb latter charter was followed immediately by grants to
the see of liberties and free customs, courts, and jurisdictions, all
which King John further confirmed in the fifteenth year of his reign,
and particularly the district of Coillach with all its appurtenances,
** in baroniam,'' with the reservation, however, that on the king's
going into Ireland he might resume these lands on assigning others
in a safe and suitable situation.

Under these patents the archbishops continued to hold courts
by their seneschals, as well within this barony, at Swords, Finglas,
&c., as in other places within the Croces ; enjoyed all the privi-
leges of sok and sak, toll and them, infangthef, outfangthef, all
pleas of the crown save four, the return of writs, assize of bread,
wine, ale, views of frankpledge, with liberty of pillory, tumbrel,
and thewe, &c Like other feudal lords, they likewise established
boroughs, or corporate towns, with certain liberties and free com-
monage in particular parts of their seigniories. They had their
coroners and officers ; and even these, as well as their clerks, and
men residing in and about the city, had peculiar privileges, it being,
however, on the other hand provided, in favour of the charter of
Dublin, that the citizens should not sue in the court of (he Arch-

THE BARONY OF COOLOCK. ' 53

bishop or of his officers, where redress might be obtained in the
court of the city.

Id this plenitude of prerogative, however, the archbishops
were not exenapted from contributing to the service of the state, in
right of such their baronial territory; and in those chivakous times,
irhen every man fit to bear arms held his character in a manner
by the tenure of military service, they too were required to repre-^
sent their fee in the field, and to maintain their << warriors for the
working day." Accordingly, in 1532, when King Henry notified
that for certain arduous causes, with the consent of his lieutenant,
and the lords spiritual and temporal and council, he had determined
to unfurl and display hb banner at the hill of Owenstown, and
therefore ordered his treasurer and barons to issue summonses and
distringases against all those absent who were bound to render
scutage on such an occasion, a notice of that nature issued to the
Archbishop of Dublin, as one bound to appear in right of his barony
of Coillach.

The lands forfeited in 1641, in this barony, were returned as
as 8,455a. profitable, while the church and glebe lands therein were
sUted as 120a. Sr.

In 1667 a further grant was made, in augmentation of the re-
venues of the see of Dublin and in pursuance of the Act of Settle-
ment, of several denominations of land in this barony, as also in
those of NethercrosB and Uppercross.

The tourist may, in this his first route, and, as it
were, on the threshold of his excursions, eiyoy, from a
bridge over the Royal Canal, called Newcomen Bridge,
a truly delightful view of the bay and its shores, and
the woods of Marino, haply when waving in their
summer verdure, and basking, as they may oftentimes
be seen, in such a delicious cheerfulness of sunshine,
as Claude Lorraine himself would have delighted to
embody.

Presently the road reaches

54 COUNTY OF BUBLIN,

BALLY BOUGH,

where was once a white flint glass manufactory, the
jbuildiDgs and offices of which have been latterly con-
verted to the nses of vitriol works. They stand at
the city side of the little river of Tolka, that here
empties itself into the sea under one ancient bridge,
of five rude, unomamented arches, (from which the
whole locality is more usually called Ballybough-
Bridge,) and another modem one, nearer to the sea
by a short interval*

The village is almost entirely on the opposite side
pf the river, comprising a few insignificant houses, '
some of which present, in their pointed roofs, the evi-
dences of ancient villas ; but situated as it is on the
bank of an area, that, at the good will and pleasure of
the tide, is alternately a pool of muddy brine, or a
surface of oozy strand, it certainly offers no inviting
auspice to the tourist. The Tolka, which flows through
it, is an unassuming stream; it forms, however, the
boundary of Coolock Barony, from the sea to Fin-
glas Bridge, and, between Ballybough and the sea, is
traversed by Annesley Bridge, the modem one be-
fore alluded to, a handsome erection of granite, con-
sisting of three semicircular arches, and exhibiting in
the centre of the parapet the Annesley arms.

In the centre of the village is, perhaps, the only
Jewish cemetery in Ireland, containing about a rood of
ground enclosed with a high wall and thinly planted
with trees and shrubs, among which are a few head-
stones with Hebrew inscriptions. It is remarkable

BALLIBOOOH. $5

^i this people never inter a second body in the same
grave, an act of veneisation which eould not be practi-
cable in extensive commimities. Thisi however^ and
all the other Jewish Htes of sqsrultare, are said to be
observedihcases of interm^ithere. Under thehead
of each corpse is placed a. bag of earth^ihe face is stu-
didnsly tamed tovwrds the Eaat, and the mourners,
retkiriiiiig from the grave, pluck the grass and strew
it behind them*

He who looks npon this Hebrew grave-yard, can-
not but bethink himiBelf of the devoticm with which
that nation is represented in the sacred writings, as
•regarding the burial places of their families, and the
last wish of that affection, expi'essed with such par
thetic simplicity in the entreaty of Jacob; '^ Bury
me not, I pray thee, in Egypt, but I will lie ^^ith my
fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt ;'' and
afterwards he charges his sons, ^^ Bury me with my
fathers in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah,
which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which
Abraham bought with the field of Ephron, the Hit-
tite, for a possession of a burying place ; there they
buried Isaac, and Rebecca his wife, and there 1 bu-
ried Leah/'

'* It is not very certain when the first Jews esta-
blished themselves in Dublin. There is reason to
suppose, however^ that they were among the Dissen-
ters who came to Ireland after Cromweirs conquests.
He wished to encourage a people, whose supposed
wealth and industry, would be likely to advance the
commercial interests of the country, and form, with
the rest, a barrier against the Catholic populatipn. On

56 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

his invitation some Portuguese Jews settled in Dub-
lin, where they became opulent merchants, and esta-
blished a synagogue in Crane-Lane/'^

The Israelites were, indeed, so prepossessed by
the Protector of England becoming also theirs, that
it is asserted a deputation of the Asiatic Jews about
this time arrived in London, with the celebrated
Rabbi Jacob Ben Azabel at their head, and that it
was their object to make private inquiries, in order
to ascertain whether Cromwell was not the expected
Messiah. The historian adds, that they accordingly
embraced an opportunity to interrogate his relatives,
where he was bom, and whether any of his ancestors
in the male line could not be proved of Jewish origin.
But their object transpired, and Cromwell was so
incensed at their impiety, that he commanded the
deputation to leave the kingdom. He, however,
continued license and toleration to Jewish settlers.

Those in Ireland, in time, became so numerous
as to engage the attention of the legislature. In the
year 1746, a bill was passed in the House of Com-
mons for naturalizing persons professing the Jewish
religion in Ireland, and in the year following it was
again introduced, agreed to without any amendment,
and presented to the Lord Lieutenant to be trans-
mitted to England. It did not, however, receive the
royal assent, but miscarried, as a similar bill had done
in England, in consequence, as it would appear, of the
popular clamour raised in that country against such
a measure. There were, at this time, about forty

• VVhilclaw and Walsh's Hist, of Dublin, p. 845.

BALLYBOUQU. 57

Jewish families settled in Dublin, comprising 200
individuals, who had removed their synagogue to
Marlborough-Green, and had purchased the above-
mentioned burying-ground. Since that period, they
gradually declined, and, at the commencement of the
present century, there not being ten males of the
body, which is necessary to constitute a synagogue,
it was therefore discontinued, and the temple con-
verted into a glass-house." * The children of Israel
have, however, at present a synagogue in Mary's
Abbey.

Passing the cemetery, and continuing through the
village^ a narrow lane branches off at left into the
once pretty suburb of Annadale.

Thou/^h Balljbough sounds not quite so ** tuneable as lark to
shepherd's ear," jet are there some records associated with it, not
perhaps unworthy of being rescued from oblivion.

The Cbtercianf monastery of the Blessed Virgin was entitled
from the earliest period to the tithes of the whole townland.:t

In the commencement of the fourteenth century, the boundary
of the dty of Dublin, in thb direction, was defined as " running
through the middle of the road of the village of Ballybough, unto an
ancient path of an old mill ;" and the White Book of Christchurch,
in describing the course of riding the franchises in 1488, thus details
this portion of the route :^<< Leaving the stone well on the left
hand, they proceeded southward, until they came into the highway
going into Ballybough ; and from the gate of Ballybough they
came to the water of Tolka, by the bridge of Ballybough, there
passing over the water, keeping by the water side southward as far
as they might ride, until they came unto St. Mary's Abbey, leav-
ing the abbey on the right hand. On the west of the abbey, on

• Whitelaw and Walsli's Hist of Dublin, p. 845.
t See an account of this Order, pos/, at ** Clonliffe."
J Inquis. 17 Car. I. in Cane. Hib.

68 COUNTT OF DUBLIN.

ihe wi4er «id9» tbere lieth a gtone where tbe abbot and his monks
^t them again, and the abbot told them that they should have
ridden west of the abbey, and so forth to the sea ; but the mayor
and. his brethren said <<Nay; for, by our book, when we did
fetom back firom the Tolka, we should hare rid to our Lady's
church of Ostmanby. And so they departed, every man repaittng
homeward Jbo his lading ; and thus the mayor and his brethren
made an end of the riding their franchises.''

The ancient gate, alluded to in the above account, has been
long since replaced by an undignified one of the turnpike order ;
but the bridge, though recently repured, still exhibits evidences
of .anltquity* The mill is repeesented hj tfro mod^n woiks,
which are rented for about £100 per annum ; one for grinding
patmealy the other for flour. There are good stores and suitable
machinery on the premises, a capital mill-race, pond, and weir. It
is subject, however, to the ordinary inconveniences of the Tolka
supply— in summer scanty, and in winter superabundant.

In 1313, John Decer, then a private citizen, but formerly
mayor of Dublin, built a bridge, extending from this town to << the
causeway of the mill-pool of Clontarf, which before was a dange-
rous charge ;" but, after a considerable sum was expended upon
the work, it was carried away by an inundation.*

* Harris's Dublin. — ^The extensive liberality^ of this charitable
Mayor should not be forgotten. It was well worthy of more than
corporate imitation. He ** builded at his own diarges the high pipe
in iDublin," a bridge over the river Liffey towards St. Wolstan's, a
chapel InThomas-streety and another in Francis-street, erected a large
stone pillar in the church of St. Saviour in Oxmantown, and gave ^e
great stone for the high altar with all (he church ornaments. On every
Friday he entertained the brethren of the latter l^ouse at his table,
and, in a time of general scarcity, imported from France three ships
ladan with com, one of which he presented to the Lord Justice and
militia, another to the Dominican and Augustinian seminaries, and
the third he reserved for the liberal exercise of his own hospitality and
bounty. On this occasion, the Prior of Christ Church, being also in
want of corn and of money to purchase it, sent to this worthy Mayor
a pledge of plate to the value of forty pounds, but he returned the plate
with a present of twenty barreb of com. All these beneficent actions

BAIXYBOUQU. SQ

hk 1376 it WM found on fawyiJAion thai the corporation of
Dublin had exeeeded their »ith<n^jy by holding pleis of IrcipMi
in the teneaie9i of QonliffiBy being vithout the bounds, of the city
handuaes, against the King^% chaiter granted to the Abbot and
Convent of Stv Mary'^ Dublin ; and that the mayor and his bai-
liflb usurped a prartofian authority^ without the dtyfibertiesy upon
John Stoad, at Ballyiyoogh in the tenement of Clonlifie.

In 1510^ John Netterville and John Penqneyt, haiing perpe-
trated a mnrdery stolen from William Dardis a sheep of the Talue
of eight pence^and oommitted other enormities^ that etinced they
were not bom in those times

** When Erin*s sons were so good or so eold.
As not to betenqiCed by woman or gold,**
sought sanctuary in St. Mary's Abbey, whither, when the co ff o ner
despatched the officers of Ballyboagfa, to take charge of the snd
feions until dehTered by due course of law, the abbot, Richard
Begg, and his monks rented tins intefference with th«r l^gal
prifilcgesy and succeeded in establishing the inviolability of theur
sanctuary*

At the dissolution of the monasteries, the said abbot wasfoand
seised {inUraiia) of twa meisuages, one hundred acres of arable,
seven acres of meadow, and four of pasture in this townbnd ;
annual value^ £7 12$. M. ; while John Bath, of Drumcondrm, was
then the proprietor of some houses, and eighty acres' here, as also
of the mill ; aH wlneh he held (rf the king, m eapiU^ by knight-
service.* For it notice in 1603, see at «« Dalkey."

In the confiscations consequent upon the war of 1641, Sir
James Weinys, the eldest son of Sir PatridL Wemys, (whowas a
native of Scotland, the confidential friend and Captain-Lieutenant
to the Earl of Ormond in the army of King Charles the First,

induoed the Dominieans to insert a pngper in their litany for the pros-
peri^ of the Mayor and City of Dabhn. ^ Orate pro salute Majoris
BaHivoram et conmranitalia de onni civitate Dublin, optimorum
benefiu^torum huic ordini tno none et in hork mortis.** On bis death,
in 1332; he was buried in the monastery of his own foundation in
Frands-street

* Inquis. 1624, in Cane Hib.

60 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

and from whom, through the said Sir James, the family, settled at
Dunfert in the county Kilkenny, is lineally descended,) obtained
a grant of a messuage, or brick tenement, and several parks near
Ballybough Bridge, containing forty acres. About the same time
Bath's eighty acres were granted to James Duke of York, on whose
attainder the principal portion thereof was sold by the trustees of
the forfeited estates to Alderman Eccles of the city of Dublin.*

In 1787, the Dublin ChronicU speaks of the iron milk of
Ballybough, as furnising spades, shovels, and other implements
of husbandry, likewise a variety of kitchen utensils, 8cc*y equal to
any heretofore imported. The same authority mentions how
successfully the manufacture of white flint glass was carried on
here by an opulent company ; while plate glass for coaches was
made and polished near the North Strand, and another glass-
house on a very extensive scale was erecting near the North Wall,
all in the immediate vicinity. The newspapers of the following
year also state the export of glass services ftrom this to Cadiz.

As Ballybough was the chief furnace of this manufacture, a
brief notice of its introduction into thb country may not be irre-
levant.

Captain Philip Roche, an Irishman of good family and pos-
sessed of some property, had accepted a commission from James
the Second, and by being included in the Articles of Limerick^
preserved his estate. He preferred, however, for a time to follow
the fortunes of his master, but .taking some umbrage, quitted
France, and, after visiting a great part of the continent, returned
to hb native country. Being there inci^acitated, as a Roman
Catholic, from seeking a military or civil employment, he turned
hb attention to trade ; and, having, while on the continent, ac-
quired a considerable insight into the mystery of making flint
glass, conceived it might be advantageously pursued here. He
made the attempt, and, after many failures and much loss, even-
tually succeeded to his wbh. After enjoying for some years
the fruits of his spirited exertions, he died very opulent, and still
more beloved and regretted. He bequeathed legacies to almost
every one of his customers, who, indeed, were mostly hawkers,

♦ Pat. in Rolls* Office.

BALLYBOUGH. 6l

«s the poverty of the country threw this brmnch into the hmads of
itinerant traders. A conaderable share of his fortune devolved
to his brother-in-law, who, in endeavouring to fulfil a charitable
trust reposed in him, by securing a perpetuity of relief for poor
widows, imprudently purchased long and valuable leases, whidi
the severity and injustice of the penal laws (he being also a Roman
Catholic) transferred to a Protestant discoverer. A Mr. Fitz Simons
succeeded to the business, which, having been carried on for some
time, devolved to hb son ; but, proving iDJurious to his health,
it declined in his hands, and at length he discontinued the works,
and became himself an importer of English glass. It may be
Added, that, soon after Mr. Roche's establishment, a similar one
was set up in Parsonstown, (alias Birr,) which Doctor Boate says
supplied Dublin with all sorts of window and drinking glasses.
" One part of the materials,'' he adds, " viz. the sand, they had
out of England, the ashes they made in the place, of ash tree,
and used no other, while the clay, for pots to melt the materiab
in, was procured firom the North." *

The botanistf will find here on the road sides,
hordeum murinum^ wall barley, and senehiera corch
nopuSf swine^s cress. — On the strand, gfyceria distans^
reflexed sweet grass, torilis nodosa^ knotted hedge
parsley, and arenaria rubra^ purple sandwort.— On
the muddy shores, cochlearia Danica^ Danish scurvy
grass ; and on the adjacent North wall, ruppia mari-
timoj tassel pond weed, sedum acre^ wall pepper, se-
rastium semidecandrumj little mouse ear chickweed,
trifolium scabrufn, rough rigid trefoil, flowering so

* Boate*8 Natural History, p. 89.

t In the botanic department of this work, and the dasn6cation as-
signed to the respective localities. Miss Bayley's ** Irish Flora,** and
Mr. Mackay*8 have been necessarily the chief authorities, with some
additions from Mr. Wade*8 little treatises.

62 COUNTT OF DUBININ.

early as May ; apargia hirta^ deficient hawkbit^ cni-
cus arvensis, creeping plume thistle, erigeron acre,
blue flea bane, pyrethrum maritimumy sea feverfew,
jpoa distans, reflexed meadow grass, flowering about
August, a plant chiefly, though not exclusively cent
fined to maritime situations, and deemed the most
inferior of grasses for agricultural purposes ; riccia
fiuUanSy floating branched riccia, and lepidium rude-
rale, narrow-leaved pepperwort, flowering in Septem*
ber, and deriving its English name from its leaves
having a taste like pepper, and being consequently often
substituted for that spice by the country people, to
give a relish to their viands.

Pursuing the road hence by the sea side a Catholic
chapel presents itself at the left, an edifice originally
constructed by an humble individual of the name of
Younge,as a Dominican monastery, but subsequently,
with the sanction of the Most Rev. Doctor Murray,
taken on lease from the Dominicans, and now appro-
priated as the parochial chapel of Clonturk or Drum-
condra, Mr. Younge also intended by his will tq
endow a school here, but his funds did not prove ade~
quate to its maintenance.

Passing thence, a very interesting view opens at
right, especially when the tide is " at home," at which
times the Pigeon-House and Light-House stand out
as if insulated in the bay, while the Wicklow and
Dublin mountains, in summer traversed by the fleet
sunshine, in winter whitened in broad lines by the
snow, appear to connect with Howth, and complete-

MABINO. 63

ly to environ a space, that, but for the intrusion of
the sails and the steam funnels, might be deemed a
noble lake* At left is seen the classic villa of

MARINO,

once the favourite retreat of that honest and dignified
Irish patriot, the celebrated Lord Charlemont, where,
in a mansion of his own erection, he collected around
him the works of ancient and modem art, andpassed»
in literary amusement and refined society, the meri-
dian and close of his life.

A gateway, modem and neat, with a centre and
wings of hewn granite, of the Doric order^ surmount-
ed'by his lordship's supporters, dragons couchant, in
Portland stone> supporting an escutcheon with the
fiunily arms, and relieved with the chivalrous motto^
^* Deo juvante, ferro comitante,''

^ Widi Qod «fl mjr ginde^
And mgr sword by my nde,**

announces to the tourist that he has reached the de*-
mesne. It comprises about 200 acres, laid out and
improved with an elegance suitable to the taste of
its first resident proprietor*

^ The house presents a square of Portland stone^
sixty feet to each side, and has, in it& day, bete the
shrine of some of the richest treawren of ^ulpture an4
painting that the most critical ^research over Europe
could select The gardens, though not extensive,
were then tastefully ornamented ; and the Temple,
a Casino from the design of Sir Richard Chambers,

64 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

though it might be thought too laboured in its em*
bellishments, presented an image of what Lord Char-
lemont had seen in the edifices of the accomplished
Pericles. It is of the Doric order, constructed of a
stone dazzlingly white, and raised on a squar.e plat-
form) ascended on the north and south by broad and
expansive flights of steps. The superstructure has a
portico in each front. " Those to the north and south
are finished by an entablature and blockings, sup-
porting statues at the angles, while the east and west
porticoes are pedimented and finished by a balustrade
over the wings ; an enriched medallion cornice and
elaborately sculptured frieze surround the entire.-*
An attic rises above the porticoes, extending longi-
tudinally from north to south, the ends of which
are ornamented with panels and festoons, and finish-
ed by antique urns, that crown the whole erection.
A deep area, surrounded by a beautiful base and ba-
lustrade, protects the building, at each angle of which,
reposing on pedestals, like watchful sentinels, are co-
lossal figures of lions."* The inside of this edifice
contains a vestibule, saloon, study and boudoir, the
floors of which are beautifully framed of inlaid wood,
of various colours, in geometrical figures. The doors
are composed of mahogany at one side and cedar at
the other, both empanelled, and the mouldings round
the panels richly carved. In the boudoir is a most
exquisite marble chimney-piece, small, but highly
sculptured with fruits, flowers, and shells.

* Armstrong's FiDgaL

MARINO. 65

** I was sensible/' said the noble founder of this structure,
<< that it was my indispensable duty to live in Ireland, and I deter-
mined by some means or other to attach myself to my native land,
and principally with this view I began those improvements at Ma-
rino, as, without some attractive employment, I doubted whether
I should have resolution to become a resident."

In 1786, this nobleman, writing from Marino to the illustrious
Henry Flood, thus reiterates his sentiments of attachment for his
native land : — *< Do not be afraid, my dearest Flood, nor do me
the injustice to harbour the least doubt of my being capable of
preferring any country whatsoever to that which you inhabit. As
long as the younger sister can boast of such children as you and
one or two more, selected out of her numerous offspring, there is
no sort of chance that the elder should ever prevail over her in
my affectionate and dutiful regard ; and, though I may like well
enough to pass some of my time with my rich and magnificent
aunt, yet, I shall ever esteem my poor mother's humble cottage as
my real home, and as the natural hearth, to which both my duty
and my inclination will ever recall me."

The Earl, it will be remembered, was one of the first honoured
with the Order of St. Patrick, the principal of the committee of
Dilettanti, the first President of the Royal Irish Academy, and,
above all, the temperate commander of the Irish Volunteers.

Here, in this his hospitable villa, the consistent Lucas —
** Lucas, for whose unwearied care
To heaven ascends the general prayer :
Whose patriot heart, with honest pride.
For years had stemmed corruption's tide j

here Lucas conceived and was encouraged in the efforts of his ar-
dent and disinterested patriotism. Here Grattan, who first entered
parliament in 1775 under the auspices of the Earl of Charlemont,
and as representative of the borough from which that peer derived
his title ; here, in the Tusculan villa of his patron, Grattan, after
astounding the senate with the splendour of his eloquence, delighted
the literary circle with the attainmenU of his genius, or the play
of his fancy. Here Curran has flashed over the convivial board
the dazzling coruscations of his wit. Here Flood was seen in all
the verdure of his leafy honours, that " tree of the forest that was

66 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

too great to be transplanted." This, in a word, was the resort of
every native or stranger, whom taste and talent could make wor-
thy of its enjoyment.

Sir Jon^Ji Barrington, in reference to the political character of
its venerable proprietor, says, " Though he was not devoid of am-
bition, and was proud of his popularity, his principles were calm, and
his moderation predominant. For some years at the head of a
great army, in the heart of a powerful people, in the hand of an
injured nation, during the most critical epocha that a kingdom ever
experienced, he conducted the Irish with incredible temperance,
and, in the midst of tempests, flowed on in an unruffled stream,
fertilizing the plain of liberty, and enlarging the channel of inde-
pendence, but too smooth and too gentle to turn the vast machi-
nery of revolution."* His indisposition to the emancipation of his
Catholic countrymen is perhaps the only cloud that posterity re-
cognises upon hb character.

About the beginning of the year 1791, when the health of this
great man was declining, and the Bath waters recommended as
likely to prove beneficial, he leR Marino for that object ; on which
occasion he writes, << It is not pleasant for me to give up Marino,
it is still less pleasant to me to give up my library, but it is least of
all pleasant to me to absent myself from that sphere of public life,
where my endeavours may possibly be of some small utility to my
country."

His life, but it can scarcely be said his health, was prolonged
to August, 1799, when he expired at his city residence, in Palace
Row, Dublin, and was buried in the family vault, in the cathedral
of Armagh.

In 1807 a fire broke out here that destroyed the
northern wing of the family mansion, in which was a
very beautiful drawing-room, with windows orna-
mented by some of the most masterly productions, in
stained glass, of the celebrated Jervis.

The demesne and its appendages were much ne-

• Bise and Fall of the Irish Nation, p. 73.

MARINO. 67

glected during the long but necessitated absence of
the present Earl. He is now, however, rapidly reno*
vating its beauties ; and, by the employment of labour-
ers and artists, diffusing comfort bnce more in tim
vicinity.

The surrounding meadows abound with the ira-
gopogon prateruis, yellow goats' beard, and the old
walls with the red valerian.

At the Crescent, (a range of houses erected in
that form in 1792,) the great road, by which the Eng-
lish miftil was formerly conveyed, diverges to Howth,
passing by the Tomantic little spot at left, called the
Black Quariy,thenl)y HoUybrook, an ancient denomi-
nation, with a small assemblage of houses at right; after
which, at the same side, occurs Furry Park, formerly
the seat of the Earl of Shannon, the descendant of
the celebrated Sir Richard Boyle; Sybil Hill^ the
handsome demesne of Mr. Barlow, succeeds at right;
the pretty cottage and well enclosed parks of Mr.
D'Arcy at left ; and on the same side, in a sweet
sitnationi, a little removed from this roadi overhanging
the glen and river off Ratheny, "is the seat of Mr,
M'Conchy, fohnerly that of Mr. Dick, whose comme-
moration IS perpetuated In the endowed school of
Ratheny, hereafter alluded to. Along the sides of this
road the epilobium tetragamArif sqtxeLve'StsXked willow
herb, grows frequent. • • i.

Traversihg,* however, the sea-shore from the afore-
said Crescent, an establishment for bathers is seen at
left, erected On the ruins of that charter schooU of
which' Lord-Harrington laid the first stone in 1748.

F 2

68 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

On the recent suppression of this establishment the
Board of the Incorporated Society have let the ground
and premises for the annual rent of £100, which is
applied by them to the maintenance of the surviving
charter schools.

On the wayside hence to Clontarf, the botanist
will find the chenopodium mwrafe, nettle leaved goose-
foot, senebiera corinopus^ swine's cress, and, accord-
ing to Thelkeld, the geranium moschatumi musked
crane's bill; while along the sea-shore ^^cma mari"
tima, creeping sea sweet grass, flourishes abundantly.

Continuing the latter course about half a mile, to
where a le^d mine was discovered and abandoned, a
turn of the road leads into the town of

CLONTABP,

the Marathon of Ireland ; buW althougli invested
with such historic associations, it has little remaining
to interest the eye. The church, which is built on
the site of an ancient monastery, is a small, unim-
portant edifice. It contains, however, some monu-
ments worthy of note, one of black and white marble
to Charles Bourchier of Northamptonshire, who died
in 1716, and to Barbara his wife, daughter of Ri-
chard Harrison, Esq., of Balls, in Hertfordshire, who
died in 1719- The inscription states that their eld-
est son was for some time governor of Bombay, and
that their other children were one son and five
daughters, whose marriages, &c., it details. It also
mentions that the above Mr. Bourchier came to this

CLONTARF. 69

country with the Honourable General Villiers, father
of the Earl of Grandison and uncle of said Barbara
Harrison. In the wall, near the entrance, is a mural
slab, to Sarah Hadsor, who died in 1751; in the
floor of the aisle, a stone to the memory of John Ca-
vanagh, who died in 1767, and in the wall, near the
communion table, a marble slab, to Archibald Douglas,
eldest son of General Douglas, who died in 1787,

In the grave-yard is the family vault of the
Vemons, some tombs of the Rochforts, Dawsons of
Dawson Grove in the County of Moni^han, Mac
Causlands of Omagh ; and at the eastern gable of
the church, a monument to John JCilpatrick, who
represented the borough of Granard in the Irish
parliament, and subsequently distinguished himself at
Plassey in Bengal.

At one side of the church, in the demesne of Mr.
Vernon, a specimen of castellated architecture has
been recently erected ; at the other, are seen the
house and beautiful gardens of Mr. Colville, (for-
merly Lord Southwell's).

The parish, in which this town is situated, bears
its name, and according to the Trigonometrical Sur-
vey* contains 1189a. 3r. Op.

In the Protestant establishment, Clontarf ranks
as a single benefice, an undivided rectory in the

* The acreable contents, stated here, and in the ensuing parisbesy
as from the Trigonometrical Surveyors, are, of course, according to
the present statutable measurement, and must be understood as kindly
furnished for this work, on the best present calculation, but subject to
more close revision before their invaluable maps are laid open to the
public.

rO COUNTY OP l^UBLIN.

deanery of Finglas^ and patronagiB of the x)rowny and
has. compounded foi;ats.tithesv.at.£220 .peir anoum^
In the CatholiO) it is united with those of Ratheny,
Coolock, vSantry, -Glasnevin, Killester, and Drum-
condra, aZ/^^^.Clonturk, there being four- Roman
Catholic churches in the union, at Clontarf, at Bally-
mun (in San try parish), at Coolock, and at Aiinesley
Bridge, as heibre. mentioned. > The population. of
this parish, exqlusive of the town, .was returned in
1821 as 1^53 persons, and in 183L as 2,014, while
that of the town wa$, on the- latter occasion, stated
at 1)309) the ^Catholics bearing, in tliis aggregate,
a proportion to those of other persuasions^ somewhat
greater than as-two to one. JMr* Vernon is the pro-
prietor- of the fee.. His lands ^re chiefly let in oma-
namented or building lots, with the ];esenration of an
acreable rent of £10 per annum; inferior portions,
or such as do not suit for building, at about £7j
while cabins without land produce from £4 to. £5.

* Thfe history of this locality, under the more ancient name of
Moynealta, connects itself with the highest legends of the hardic
age, which allege that Partholanus, one of the earliest invaders of
Ireland, dosed his adventurous life on this barren shore. Other
authorities assign Howth as the place where he and all his follow-
ers fell victims to the plague. It subsequently obtaiued the Irish
name of Cloutarf, i. e., the plain of the bull, from the fanciful ap-
pearance of the large sand-bank in front of it, and which still re-
tains the appellation in the English tongue.

In 650 & church was founded here, and dedicated to St. Con-
gall the Abbot, founder of the noble monastery of Bangor, and
other religious houses, having, according to his biographers, 3000
monks under his care. He died about the year 600, and his fes-
tival is kept on the 10th of May. From this time nothing very

CLONTAKP. 71

'worthy of insertion occurred here, until the memorable period
before alluded to, when Brian Boroimhe, the justly celebrated
monarch of Ireland^ was compelled to abandon his pacific plans
for the improvement of a country miserably wasted by internal
dissensions and foreign spoliation, and again reluctantly obliged
to lead his countrymen to the field in the eightieth year of his
age. He repressed their fears, kindled their enthusiasm, united
their energies, gathered them to defend their country, their li-
berty, their religion, and, under his practised direction, they
achieved over the Danes, upon the plains of Clontarf, the proudest
victory that the chronicles of Ireland record. The glories of their
triumph were, however, deeply darkened by the fall of this good
old king, the most splendid ornament of the O'Brien dynasty,
the lawgiver and the hero, the Alfred and Epaminondas of his
country. At the close of the engagement he was sacrificed by
a flying party of Danes to the manes of their fallen comrades.
John Wilson has included this illustrious individual amongst the
martyrs, as has Fitz Simons in the catalogue of Irish saints, each
following Marianus Scotus; and, undoubtedly, if the founding
and rebuilding of churches, the sheltering and maintaining persecu-
ted ecclesiastics, the directing every effort of men, money, genius,
and power, to restore Christianity, the ardent prosecution of a war,
perhaps more holy than a crusade, from battle to battle, to arrest
the sacrilegious arms of the infidel invaders of his country, gave
a claim to canonization, he was eminently entitled to it.

The details of the engagement are given, at much length, in
the various Irish annals. The Book of Howth, naturalizing the
story of Lucretia, attributes the whole catastrophe to the revenge
of an injured husband. The Antiquitates Celt. Scand. are also
very full in its recital, and the Leabhar Oiris, cited in 0'Conor*s
Dissertation, (s. 18), is most diffuse, particularly in the account of
the death of Brian ; and, certainly, it seems that the influence of
this battle on the fortunes of Ireland well justifies a relation of
the circumstances under which it was fought, and the particulars
of the engagement, for which purpose the following has been se-
lected, as translated by Mr. John O'Donovan chiefly from an an-
cient Irish MS. entitled Calh Chluana Tarbh ; corrected, how-
ever, in many parts, firom the Annalr of Innisfallen and Ulster,

72 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

especially in the list of the chieftains who fell in that remarkable
combat ; while the account of the deaths of Brian and Morogh is
translated literally from the original Irish, as given by Mr. Hardi*
man in his Irish Minstrelsy, vol. ii. p. 361. It must be confessed,
however, that in some of the detsdls there i^pears an evident dis-
position to exaggerate.

<* It is said that towards the end of Brian Boroihme's rdgn
Ireland flourished in all earthly blessings; and that so strictly were
the laws obeyed, that, as we are informed by Mac Liag, chief an-
tiquary of Ireland in Brian's time, a lady might travel unattended
from one extremity of Ireland to the other, with a gold ring on
the top of a wand, without being robbed or molested. No Danes
were left in the kingdom, but such a number of artisans and mer-
chants in Dublin, Waterford, Wexford, Cork, and Limerick, as he
knew could be easily mastered at any time, should they dare to
rebel ; and these he very wisely (as he thought) permitted to re-
miun in those seaport towns, for the purpose of encouraging trade
and traffic, as they possessed many ships, and were experienced
sailors.

" But such prosperity was of short continuance : Maelmordha,
who usurped the crown of Leinster in 999, by the assistance of the
Danes, being at an entertainment at Kincora, saw Morogh,
Brian's eldest son, at a game of chess, and advised his antagonist
to a movement which lost Morogh the game ; whereupon Morogh
observed to him with a sneer, that if he had given as good advice
at the battle of Glen-mama, the Danes would not have received so
great an ovei*throw.

" To which Maelmordha replied, " My instructions the next
time shall guide them to victory ;" and Morogh, with contempt,
bade defiance. Maelmordha became enraged, retired to his bed-
chamber, and did not appear at the banquet, but passed the night
in restless anger, and ruminating his country's ruin. Early next
morning he set out for Leinster, without taking his leave of the
monarch, or any of his household, to shew that he was bent upon
desperate revenge. The good monarch, on hearing of his depar-
ture, sent one of his servants after him, to request his reconcilia-
tion with Morogh. The servant overtook him east of the Shannon,
not far from Killaloe, and delivered his message from the monarch.

CLONTARF. 73

Maelmordha, viho all the while listened with indignation, as soon
as the servant was done speaking, raised the rod of yew which he
had in his hand, and with three furious blows thereof, fractured
the servant's skull, to make known to Brian how he rejected such
reconciliation. He pursued his way on horseback to Leinster,
vrhere, the next day, he assembled his nobles, represented to them
the insult he received at Kincorai and inflamed them to so great a
degree, that they renounced their allegiance to Brian, confederated
M^ith the Danes, and sent the monarch defiance.

<< Emissaries were sent to Denmark and Norway. The Danes
of Normandy, Britain, and the Isles, joyfully entered into the con-
federacy, pleased at the prospect of once more gaining possessions
in this landj^oirtii^ with milk and honey.* The King of Den-
mark sent his two sons, Carolus Kanvtus and Andreas, at the
head of twelve thousand men, who landed safely in Dublin, and
were kindly received and refreshed by Maelmordha. Troq)s now
daily poured into the different ports of Leinster, from Sweden^
Norway, Normandy, Britain, the Orkneys, and every other nor-
thern settlement. The King of Leinster was also indefatigable^
not only in raising new levies, but in labouring to detach different
princes from the interest of their country. Never were such efforts
made by the Danes as upon this occasion ; the best men were
every where pitched upon for this service. Among others, Broder
and Anrud, two Norwegian princes, landed at the head of one thou-
sand choice troops, covered with coats of mail.

<* The King of Leinster, being now animated by the number of

* *' In the Chronicle of Ademar, Monk of Epharchius of Angoulesme,
there is a curious passage relative to the views of the Northmen at
that time, in which it is stated that they came with an immense fleet,
meaning to extinguish the Irish, and to get possession of that most
wealthy country which had twelve cities, great bishoprics, &c. * His
temponbus Normanni 8upradic(t\ cum innumerd classe Hibemiam insit-
lavty qucs Irlanda dicilur, ingressi sunt una cum uxoribus et liberis^ 8fc.
ut, Hirlandis extinctis, ipsipro ipsis inhabitarent opulentissimam terram
quee xii cimtales cum amplissimis Episcopatibus et unum regem habet^
ac propriam linguam sed Latinos literas, quam Sanctus Pairieius Ro-
manus ad /idem convertit: Labbe thinks that this Chroiiicle was writtea
before 1031.

74 COUNTY OF DUBLIK.

his auxiliaries, without longer delay, bid defiance by a herald to the
monarch Brian, and challenged him to fight at Clontarf.

« Brian Boroihme, with all possible speed, mustered (he forces
of Munster and Connaught, and marched directly to the place ap^
pointed, and there saw the enemy prepared to oppose him, viz.
sixteen thousand Danes, together with all the power of Leinster,
under the command of their king, Maelmordha, the sole author of
this battle. Then the power of Meath came in to aid their mo-
narch Brian, under the conduct of Maelseachluin, their king, who,
however, intended to betray Brian. For this purpose he sent to
the King of Leinster to inform him, that Brian had despatched his
son, Donogh, at the head of a third part of the Eugenian forces,
to ravage Leinster, and that he himself, with his 1000 Meathmen,
would desert Brian on the day of battle. Accordingly, It was de-
termined to attack Brian before Donogh could come up. He was
then encamped on the plain near Dublin, with a smaller army than
he otherwise should have had. His opponents formed themselves
into three divisions; the first, consisting of 1000 Northmen, covered
with coats of mail from head to foot, and commanded by Carolus
and Anrud, two Norwegian princes, and of the Danes of Dublin
under Dolat and Conmael. The second divbion consisted of La-
genians, about 9000 strong, commanded by their king, Maelmor-
dha Mac Morogh, and under him by several minor princes, such as
Mac Tuathal, or Toole, of the Liffey territory, the prince of Hy-
Falgy, (Ophaly,) together with a large body of the Danes. The
third division was formed of the Northmen, collected from the
islands, from Scotland, &c. It was commanded by Loder, Earl of
the Orkneys, and Broder, Admiral of the fleet, which had brought
the auxiliary Northmen to Ireland. Brian was not dismayed by this
mighty force ; and, depending on Providence and the bravery of
his troops, prepared for battle, dividing his army likewise into three
divisions ; one to oppose the enemy's first division, under his son
Morogh, who had along with him his son Torlogh, and a select
body of the brave Dalcassians, besides four other sons of Brian,
Teige, Donald, Connor, and Flan, and various chieftains, Don-
chuan, Lonargan, Celiocar, Fiongallach, and Jonracbtach, and the
three chiefe of Teffia, &c,, together with a body of men from
Conmaicne-mara, a western part of Connaught, under Carnan,

CLONTABF. 75

their chief. To this division Maelseachluin was ordered to joiii

his followers. Over the division which was to fight'the second of

ilio enemy, Brian placed Kian and Donald, two princes of the Eu-

genian line, under whom were the forces of Desmond and other

parts of the south of Ireland, viz. Mothia, son of Faelaii, King of

the Desies ; Murtogh, son of Anmchadha, Lord of Hy-Liathian ;

Scanlan, son of Cathal, Chief of Eoganacht, of Lough Lein ; Ca<*

thai, the son of Donovan, Lord of Hy-Cairbre Eabha, and Loing*

seach O'Dowling, Chief bfHy-Conall Gaura ; the son of Beothach,

King of Kerry- Luachra; Geibbionach, the son of Dubhagan, Chief

of Fermoy. To this division also belonged (VCarroll, and hu

troops of Ely O'Carrdl, and it was joined by another 0*Carroll,

Prince of Uriel, in Ulster, and Maguire, Prince of Fermanagh*

The division opposed to the third of their antagonists, consisted

chiefly of Connacians, commanded by Teige O'Conor, as chief,-

under whom were Mulroney CyHeyne, Chief of Aidhne ; Teige

O'Kelly, King of Hy-maine ; O'Flaherty, King of Muinter Mur-

chadha ; Connor O'MuIroney, Chief of Moylurg ; Hugh Guineagli

O'Doyle, and Fogartagh, the son of Donall, two Chiefe of Ely ;

Murtogh, the son of Core, Chief of Muscraighe-Cuirc ; and Hugh,'

the son of Loughlin, Chief of Hy-Cuanach ; Donall, the son of

Dermod, Chief of Cdrca-Baisgin ; Donogh, the son of CathaT,

Chief of Muscraigh^ Aedha ; Ectigema, the son of Donegan, King

of Ara. The Northmen, who had arrived under Broder at Dub*

lin, on Palm Sunday, A. D. 1014, inasted on the battle being

fought on Good Friday, which fell on the 28rd of April, a day, on

whidi, by reason of its sanctity, Brian would have wished to avoid

fighting.* Yet he was determined to defend himself even on that

day ; and, holding the crucifix in his left hand, and his sword in

the right, rode with his son Morogh through the ranks, and ad-'

dressed them as follows, as we read in the Annals of Innisfallen,

under the year 101 4« < Be not dismayed because that my son

Donoghy with the third part of the Momonian firceSf is absent

from you^for they are plundering Leinster and the Danish terri-

• The Niala Saga states that Broder had been informed by a sort
of pagan oracle, that should the batUe be fought on Good Friday, the
Northmen would be victorious.

76 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

toiies. lAmg have the men of Ireland groaned under the tyranny
of these seafaring pirates I the murderers of your kings and
chieftainsy plunderers of your fortresses ! profane destroyers of the
churches and monasteries of God ! who have trampled ujyon, and
committed to the fames the relics of his saints ! (and raising his
voice,) May the Almighty Gody through his great mercy^ give you
strength and courage this dayy to put an end for ever to their tyran'
nyin Ireland^ and to revenge upon them their many per/ldiesy and
their profanations of the sacred edifices dedicated to his worshipy
this dayy on trAtcA Jesus Christ himself suffered deaih for your re-
demption* So saying, (continue the Annals) < He shewed them the
symbol of the bloody sacrifice in his left hand, and his golden hilted
sword in his right, declaring that he was willing to lose his life in
so just and honourable a cause.' And he proceeded towards the
centre to lead on his troops to action ; but the chiefs of the army,
with one voice, requested he would retire from the field of battle,
on account of his great age, and ' leave to hb eldest son Morogh
the chief command.

*< At sunrise in the morning the signal for battle was given ;
but at this very critical moment, Maelseacbluin, finding an oppor-
tunity of being in some measure revenged of Brian, retired sud-
denly from the scene of action with his 1000 Meathmen, and
remained an inactive spectator during the whole time of the battle,
without joining either side. This defection certainly rendered the
division of the monarch's army very unequal in numbers to that of
the enemy's which they were appointed to engage with. But
Morogh, with great presence of mind, cried out to his brave Dal-
cassians, < that this was the time to distinguish themselves, as they
alone would have the unrivalled glory of cutting off that formida-
ble body of the enemy.' And now, whilst the Dalcassians were
closely engaged with battle-axe, sword, and dagger, the second
division, under the command of the King of Con naught, hastened
to engage the Danes of Leinster and their insular levies, whilst the
troops of South Munster attacked Maelmordha and his degenerate
Lagenians. Never was greater intrepidity, perseverance, or
animosity displayed in any other battle than in this ; as every
thing depended on open force and courage. The situation of the
ground admitted of no ambuscades, and none were used ; they

CLONTARF. 77

fought roan to man, and breast to breast ; and the victors in ono
rank fell victims in the next. The commanders on both sides per-
formed prodigies of valour. Morogh, his son Torlogh, his brethren
and kindred, (lew from place to place, and every where left the
sanguinary traces of their courage. The slaughter committed by
Morogh excited the fury of Carolus and Conmael, two Danes of
distinction ; they attacked him in conjunction, and both fell by his
sword. Sitric, the son of Loder, observed that Morogh and other
chiefs retired from the battle more than twice, and after each re-
turn seemed to be possessed of double vigour. It was to quench
their thirst, and cool their hands, swelled from the violent use of
the sword and battle-axe, in an adjoining well, over which a guard
of twelve men was placed; this the Danes soon destroyed. On
rejoining his troops the last time, Sitric, the son of Loder, with a
body of Danes, was making a fresh attack on the Dalcassians, and
him Morogh singled out, and with a blow of his battle-axe divided
bis body in two through his armour !* The other Irish com-
manders in like manner distinguished themselves, though their
exploits are not so particularly narrated ; and it would seem from
the number of rank that fell on both sides, that the chiefs every
where attacked each other in single combat.

<< The issue of the day remained doubtful, until near four
o'clock in the afternoon, and then it was that the Irish made so
general an attack on the enemy, that its force was not to be
resisted. Destitute of leaders, and consequently in disorder,
the Danes gave way on every side. Morogh, at this time, through
the violent exertion of his right arm, had both hand and arm so swel-
led and pained as to be unable to lift them up. In this condition

• "Annals of Innisfallen. — Of the great havoc which the Irish com-
mitted with the battle-axe, Giraldus Cambrensis thus speaks in the
reign of King John : — * They hold the axe with one hand not with
both, the thumb being stretched along the handle and directing the
blow, from which neither the helmet erected into a cone can defend
the head, nor the iron mail the rest of the body. Whence it happens
in our times that the whole thigh (coxa) of a soldier, though ever so
well cased in iron mail, is cut off by one blow of the axe, the thigh and
the leg falling on one side of the horse, and the dying body on the
other.*

78 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

he was attacked by Anrudh, the son of Ebhric, but Morogh
closing in upon him^ seized him with the left hand, shook him
out of his coat of mail, and prostrating him, pierced him with
hb sword by leaning with hb breast upon it, and pressing upon
it with the weight of his body. In this dying situation of Anrudh,
he nevertheless seized the skeine (scimitar) which hung by Mo-
rogh's side, and with it gave him at the same instant a mortal wound !
The Dane expired on the spot ; but Morogh lived until next morn-
ing. The confusion became general through the Danish army,
and they fled on every side. Laidin, the servant of Brian, ob-
serving the confusion, feared that the imperial army was defeated.
He hastily entered the tent of Brian, who was on his knees before
a crucifix, and requested that he would immediately take a horse
and fly. * No,' says Brian ; < it was to conquer or die I came
here; but do you and my other attendants take my horses to Ar-
magh, and communicate my will to the successor of St. Patrick —
that I bequeath my soul to God, my body to Armagh, and my
blessing to my son Donogh ; give two hundred cows to Armagh,
along with my body; and go directly to Swords of Columbkille,
and order them to come for my body to-morrow, and conduct it
to Duleek of St. Kianan, and let them convey it to Louth, whither
let Maelmurry, the son of Eochy, coniorb of St. Patrick, come
with the family of Armagh, and convey it to their Cathedral.*
* People are coming towards us,' says the servant. * What sort
of people are they^' says Brian ? « Green, naked people,* says
the servant* < They are the Danes in armour,* says Brian ; and
he rose from his pillow, seized his sword, and stood to await the
approach of Broder and some of hb followers; and he saw no part
of him without armour except his eyes and his feet. Brian raised
his hand and gave him a blow with which he cut off his left leg
from the knee, and the right from the ankle, but Broder's axe
met the head of Brian, and fractured it; Brian, however, with all
the fury of a dying warrior, beheaded Broder, and killed a second
Dane by whom he was attacked; and then gave up the ghost.
From the vast number of chiefs who fell, we may form some
idea of the carnage of Brian's army. Besides himself, were slain
Morogh, with two of his brothers, and his grandson Turlogh ; his
nephew Conang; the chiefs of Corca Baisgin, of Fermoy, of Coo-

CLONTARF. 79

naghy of Kerry- Luachra, of Eoganacbt Locha Lein, of Hy-Conaill-
Gabhra, of Hy.Neachach Mumhan> of the Desies, &c. fell in this
battle; as did the Connaught princes O'Kelly of Hy-maine,
O'Heyne, and many others. The Great Stewards of Leamhna
(Lennox) and Mar, with other brave Albanian Scots, the de-
scendants of Core, king of Munster, died in the same cause. On
tbe side of the enemy there fell Maelmordha, the cause of all this
blood, with the princes of Hy-Failge (Offaly), of Magh-Liffe, and
almost all the chiefs of Leinster, with 3000 of their bravest troops.
Of the Danes, besides their principal officers, there fell 14,000
men. The 1,000 men that wore coats of mail are said to have
been all cut to pieces. The Danes were routed and pursued to
their ships, and as far as the gates of Dublin. The surviving fo-
reigners took an eternal farewell of the country ; and the Irish
Danes returned to Dublin.

<< That this was a real and great victory is attested in the Annals
of Innisfallen under the year 1014, as also in the Annals of the
Four Masters and of Ulster. Yet Sir James Ware, in his Anti-
quities of Ireland, chap. 24, has some doubts on this pointy as if
towards the end the Danes became uppermost. But the Scan-
dinavian account of this sanguinary battle (which was long after
famous throughout Europe) b sufficient to remove this doubt.
The Niala Saga^ in Johnstone's Ant, CellO'Scand.y represents the
Northmen as flying in all directions, and large parties of them
totally destroyed. And in the Chronicle of Ademar, Monk of St.
Eparchius of Angoulesme, tliis battle is represented as even greater
than it really wajs, for it is said that all the Northmen were killed,
and it is added that crowds of their women threw themselves into
the sea. Yet it is true, that of some of their divisions not a man
was left alive. Ademar makes the battle last for three days, but
this does not agree with other accounts.

« The body of Brian, according to his will, was conveyed to
Armagh. First, the clergy of Swords, in solemn procession brought
it to their abbey, from thence, the next morning, the clergy of
bamhliag (Duleek) conducted it to the church of S. Kianan ;
here the clergy of Louth (Lughmagh) attended the corpse to their
own monastery. The Archbishop of Armagh, with hb suflfragans
and clergy, received the body at Louth, whence it was conveyed

80 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

to their cathedral. For twelve days and nights it was watched by
the clergy, during which time there was a continued scene of
prayers and devotions ; and then it was interred with great funeral
pomp at the north side of the altar of the great church. The body
of Morogh, with the heads of Conang and Faelan, prince of the De-
sies, were deposited in the south aisle of that church ; but his
grandson Turlogh, and most of the other chiefs, were interred at
the monastery of Kilmainham.

" Donogh, after having plundered Leinster, arrived at Kilmain-
ham, on the evening of Easter Sunday, with the great spoil of
Leinster, where he met bis brother Teige, Kian, the son of Mol-
loy, and all that survived the battle : and he sent many presents
and offerings to the comorb of St. Patrick.

** Malachy (who resumed the monarchy of Ireland after the
fall of Brian,) having been requested by the Clan Colman to give a
narrative of the action, said : — < It is impossible for human lan-
guage to describe it, an angel from heaven only could give a cor-
rect idea of the terrors of that day ! We retired to the distance
of a fallow field from the combatants, the high wind of the spring
blowing from them towards us. And we were no longer than half
an hour there, when neither of the two armies could discern each
other, nor could one know his father or brother, even though he
were the next to him, unless he could recognise his voice, or know
the spot on which he stood, and we were covered all over, both
faces, arms, heads, hair, and clothes with red drops of blood, borne
from them on the wings of the wind ! And should we attempt to
assist them we could not, for our arms were entangled with the locks
of their hair, which were cut off by the swords, and blown towards
us by the wind, so that we were all the time engaged in disentang-
ling our arms. It was wonderful that those who were in the battle
could endure such horror without becoming distracted. And they
fought from sunrise until the dusk of the evening, when the full
tide carried the ships away.' "

In the museum of Trinity College a harp richly ornamented is
exhibited as having belonged to Brian ; but, although its antiquity
be evidently great, it is somewhat apocryphal that its music ever
touched the heart of that monarch.

This battle was the subject of a fine poem, preserved in the

CLONTARF. 81

Orcades of Thermodus Torfsus, and also in Bartholinusi of which
Graj has given a paraphrase, but certainly far inferior to the
original, in his ode entitled << The Fatal Sisters." It also, as might
well be expected, supplied the theme of various native effusions.
That man, it has been observed, is little to be envied, whose patri-
otism would not gain force upon the plains of Marathon, or whose
piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of lona : and surely,
he were not worthy of the name of Irishman, who would not feel
electrified by the moral sublimity of this scene ;

** Whose heart within him never burned,'*

as he traversed the historic scene, where, by one magnificent effort
of national retribution, the oppressors of his country were for over
crushed, and, although some few of their race were allowed to
remain as merchants in the towns which they had << builded with
blood and established by iniquity," and where, on the English
invauon, the rights of their descendants continued to be saved by
special reservations down to the fourteenth century, yet never
again were they a dominant people in this country.

In 1171, when Roderic O'Conor invested the city of Dublin
with his auxiliaries, Mac Dunleve, the petty prince of Ulster, had
his station here, as had (VRourke of Breffny, (the abduction of
whose wife was the alleged cause of the English invasion,) in the
subsequent memorable attack upon Milo de Cogan. Immediately
afterwards, the great Palatine of Meath, Hugh de Lacy, conferred
upon his favourite, Adam de Phepoe, one knight's fee in the vid-
nage of Dublin, comprising Clontarf, upon which de Phepoe is said
to have built a castle ; while, in the service of religion, a commaud-
ery (as religious houses, attached to military orders, were more
commonly called) was founded here for Knights Templars, de-
pendant upon Strongbow's splendid establishment of that order
at Kilmainham. It was liberally endowed by private munificence,
and a grant by Nicholas Taaffe of all his lands of Killergy, to the
master of the Tempkrs here, is yet of record.

The religious order of Templars was instituted at Jerusalem,
about the year 1118; some individuals, who placed themselves un-
der the government of the Patriarch, renounced property, made

82 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

the TOW of celibacy and obedience, and lived like Canons Regii*
lar. King Baldwin assigned to them apartments in his palace^
and they h*d, likewise^ lands conferred upon them by the Patriarch
and the nobility, for their maintenance. About nine years after
their inttitation a rule was drawn up for their conduct, and a
white habit assigned to them by Pope Honorius the Second, In
twenty years afterwards they were allowed to wear red crosses,
sewed npon their cloak% as a mark of distinction, and, in a sborl
time, were increased to about 800 in their conrent at Jerusalem,
'J*hey took the name of Knights Templars, because their first
house stood near the temple dedicated to our Saviour.

This order, after having performed many great achievements
against the infidels, became so rich and powerful, that they were
possessed of 9000 Dumors in Christendom, and, certainly, no other
fraternity could so well suit the taste of an age inspired with all
the excitements of romance, and yet more elevated by every spe-
cies of religious enthusiasm. Their amazing accession of pro*
perty, however, soon induced the jealousy of the crowned heads
of England and France, whereupon, charges, frivolous or feebly
supported, were corruptly admitted by avaricious judges, and the
order was universally suppressed* being, at the time of its extinc-
tion, possessed of 16,000 lordships. Their grand master, James
de Mola, was burned at Paris, asserting, to the Ust moment of hit
life, their orthodoxy and innocence. In 1312, the Pope, by hia
Bull, given in the Council of Vienna, pronounced the exUnctioQ
of the order, but united their estates to that of St. John of Jeru«
salem, a grant which the king of England confirmed in bis domi-
nions^ protesting, however, againat any assumption of temporal
power by the Pope, on this occasion. — In Ireland, besides Kil-
mainham and Clontarf, this order was seised of the preceptoriea
of Kilelogan, Killergy^ Kilsaran, Killure, Crock, Clonaul and
Teach- Temple.

Edward the Second, immediately on his accession to the
throne, transmitted to John Wogan, then justiciary of Ireland^
a mandate for their suppression and the confiscation of their es-
tates there, which was accordingly obeyed, and still further en-
forced in 1309, by the imprisonment of the Templars in the

CLONTARF. 83

cttUe of Dublin. In 131 1 their manors of Clontarf and Kilsa-
ran were granted to Richard De Burgo, Earl of Ulster ;* but the
religious edifices continued to be upheld as royal houses, and nu-r
merous records occur of salaries and liberates paid from the trea**
aury to the janitor, the butlerif kc^ of ** our Royal House of
Clontarf.^ A large^ venerable mulberry tree, in a garden in the
towiiy is thought to mark the vicinity of this commaadery* even
yet surviving, by upwards of five centuries, the pious hands that
planted it.

In Idld a causeway was constructed, as before mentioned,
from Ballybough Bridge to this town.

In 1826 Roger Le Ken had a grant of all the premises in Cloa.
larf, which he had theretofore occupied at will, to hold thenceforth
to hka and the heirs of his body.

In 1328 a petition was presented to king Edward the Thirds
praying, in behalf of the Irish people, that the revenues of the
Knights Templars should, in the hands of the king's justices and
grimtee^ be made to contribute to pay the ^' debts, burdens, pensionsi
alms, and hospitality whicH it could be proved the Templars used to
pay, and were bound so to do firom the time of their foundation."
To which the king replied, that relief should be given according
to the statute of the 1 7th of Edward the Second, an act which
had previously ordained, that all the possessions of the dissolved
Templars should continue subject to the same burdens to which
they had been liable in the hands of that community, as, relieving
the poor, &c. Saving the rights of all persons to prosecute their
claims for pensions, corodies, alms, &c., as they might have done
against the said Templars, if their order had not been dissolved.

In 1377 the king ordered that several books, the property of
certain clergymen, who were deemed hostile to his crown, should
be seised in this harbour, where they had been shipped. About
this time this manor, according to the Pope's decree of 1312,
passed into the possession of the knights of St. John of Jerusa-
lem, an order which was instituted on the following occasion.

* Roll in Exch. England.

t It is remarkable that in these accounts, credit is taken for shoes
fiimiriied at the uniform price of 6«. 9d. per pair.

84 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

In the year 1048 some Neapolitan merchants founded a Latin
church at Jerusalem, and also a monastery of religious, after the
order of St. Bennet, for the reception of pilgrims. Near this
they likewise established an hospital for the diseased, and a cha-
pel in honour of St. John the Baptist. In 1099 the celebrated
Godfrey de Bouillon, having taken Jerusalem, endowed this hos-
pital with some demesnes which he had in France ; and, others
imitating his liberality, its revenues became considerably augment-
ed, whereupon their rector, in concert with his fraternity, resolved
to separate from the Latin house and form a distinct congregation
under the name and protection of St. John the Baptist, tfnd on
so doing assumed their appellation of Hospitallers or brothers of
St. John of Jerusalem. Their habit was black, and they wore
on their breasts a white cross of eight points, emblematic of the
eight beatitudes. Pope Pascal, in 1 1 13, confirmed their endow-
ments, and established them under the special protection of the
Holy See. A succeeding rector took the title of Master, and
gave a rule to the Hospitallers, which was approved of by Pope
Calixtus the Second, in 1120.

Their first grand master, finding that the revenues of the
Hospital vastly exceeded what was necessary for the entertain-
ment of poor pilgrims and diseased persons, resolved to employ
the surplus against the infidels ; and accordingly offered himself
and the resources of his fraternity to the King of Jerusalem. On
this occasion the order was divided into three classes, the first
consisting of nobles for the profession of arms, defence of the
faith, and protection of pilgrims ; the second for the service of
religion, and the third, who were not noble, were also appointed for
the war. He likewise regulated the manner of admitting knights
brothers, and had the whole arrangement confirmed in 1130 by
Pope Innocent the Second, who commanded that the standard
of the knights should be << gules a full cross argent."

After the loss of Jerusalem, they retired first to Margath,
then to Agre, which they defended very \igorously in 1290 ;
thence they withdrew to Cyprus, where they continued until, hav-
ing taken Rhodes from the Saracens, they settled and sojourned
there ; but, after a possession of 213 years, Solyman the Second,
in 1522, attacked and took the island, with an army of 300,000

CLONTARP. 85

men. After this discomfiture the grand master, and his knights^
retired first to Candia and subsequently to Malta.

A branch of the order settled in Ireland immediately after the
English invasion, and established their grand priory at Wexford,
which continued to be their chief house until they received Kil-
mainham on the suppression of the Templars. At the time of the
dissolution, this order had twenty-two preceptories in thb country.
In 1395 a state warrant issued in aid of the laws against ab-
senteeism, to arrest and detain all ships << in the water of Clon-
tarfy" destined for the conveyance of passengers to England.*

Some readers may be surprised to find absenteeism an object
of such early legislative interference, but the << census emigrati-
onis" of the Romans was introduced in the system of Irish taxation,
almost a century previous to the above date ; from which period
it has been the paramount and, it might be said, the peculiar evil
of Ireland, alike destructive of the strength — the rank — the re-
venues of the island— the industry and comforts of its peasantry-*
the influence of its great proprietors, and above all, the patriar-
chal, friendly, and social relations that should flow from the re-
currence of mutual benefits amongst all classes of the people ; yet,
although there has thus been, from 1310 to 1753, a series of legal
enactments to prevent its ruinous prevalence here, and no less
popular remonstrances from that period to the present, all have
been successively more ineffective, as the following comparative
table of the amount of absentee rentals, at various periods, on the
most approved authorities, may evince :

1691, amount of annual absentee rental, . £136,018
1729, do. do. . . 627,799

1782, do. do. . . 2,223,222

1783^] do. do. . . 1,608,932

1804^ do. do. . 3,000,000

1830, do. do. . . 4,000,000

And it is now estimated as nearer . . 5,000,000
In 1413 Sir John Stanley landed in the harbour of Clontarf,
delegated for the prosecution of a rapacious and oppressive go-
vernment, which terminated in a few months with his life.

• Rot Pat 18 Ric II. in Cane. Hib.

86 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

In 1440 Will'tttin tnd James FitEgerald, the brothers of Tho*
mas Fitzgerald, then Grand Master of the Hospitallers, haYing
waylaid the Lord Deputy on the marches or borders c^ the Pale,
near Kilcock, slain several of his suite, and imprisoned himself, the
King directed that the manors of said Thomas^ and amongst them
Clontarf, should be sequestered until he eiculpated himself from
having been accessary to the offence, which he immediat^y did.*

An inquisition of 1527 finds that this commandery was of the
annual value of £20.

Ih 1534 Lord Thomas Fit^erahl, <<the silken lord," h^re de-
nted the first detachment of the royal fcnrces that was sent against
him*

Immediately previous to its dissolutioni the priory of Kllmain*'
ham was seised of the raanor> rectory, tithes, and altarages of
Clontarf, subject, however, to a lease made by the IVior in 1538^
to Matthew King, of all the town and lordship, with the appurtd-
nances^ and also the pool of Clontarf, and the island lying to the
west side ther^f^ and all the said rectory^ tithes, &c. to enure fot*
ninety ^nine years* from 1542.. In this deihise it was provided, that
the lessee^ &c. should repair the manor house of Qontarf, and main-*
tain a sufficient person to minister all sacraments to the parishioners
at their proper charges. The Prior also thereby granted to said
Matthew King, and to the inhabitants of the town of Clontarf>licen9e»
with their boats to fish within the liberty and bounds of Carling-
ford, without any payment to the vicar of Oirlingford, or his suc-
cessors.

On the suppression of Uiat splendid religious establishment, its
last Prior, Sir John Rawson, who had been at different periods
Lord Treasurer of Ireland, was, in 1541, on surrendering the pos-
session of his house, created Viscount of Clontarf, with a pension
of 500 marks,f in right of which dignity he sat in the parliament
of that year. The following representation preceded, and appears
to have influenced those marks of royal favour.

« May it further please your Majesty," writes the Lord Deputy
St. Leger , in 1540, to King Henry the Eighth, << according to

• i ■ II I ■ i I I I I ■. I I i ■■ ■

• Rot. Clam, 19 Hen. VI. in Cane. Hib.
t Archdairs Mon. Hib. p. 425.

CLONTAir. 87

jonr high comisMiciincDt, I, at tnj repair to ikete p^ts^ aov«d
the Ltd KUauunhmm, Lvrd of Soiai John's hefe» cooccmiqg
the surrender of his n«Be tnd buHi% umI bow good nod grtcaeus
jour M^esly is to him, assigning unto him for i^nk of his life five
hundred mat-ks bj the year. The said Lord Kihnainhini is not
only ghid and willing to ohej yow said coounaAdaieftt and pleop
«ure, but also desifed me to render nolo yowk* EkceUeol Majesty
bis most humbU thanks far yonr said god<knfts towards hiflfe And
jdso he^ perceifi^g youf said pleasnre^ hath not only given to mc^
your poor servant* certain impfeosenls very necsaisry for the bonso
tberoi with cortn bay^ and other things whereof I bad great need,
but also hath caused the principal house there to be well and sub*
steotiaUy reposed in all places needfuli which assuredly h a good
bousei and great pity that it should decay. And forasa»ycb> as by
the report of the most part of the counsel her% the ssid Lord
Kilmaidham bath, for the long time of hia abode bere^ been the
person which, neat your Majesty's Deputy, hath always kept tb#
best house, and £tigiish sort, ted at all timc% whea strm^ftie of
other countries hath repaired thither, foisted abd eatertaiiied tbem
to your Higfaness's hobour ; and also for that H is thought by thoee
of your £ngliah counsellors here^ that it shall be a gieal ksk to
diiss bisi out of council, and also out of the parlianent, (whenaey
shall be,) as well for his honesty as for bis long elperieAce, they
htve yi desired me to write unto ^olir most EaeeUent hUietij in
£lvouf of the said Lord Kilmaitiham, that forasaMwb as your Ma-
jesty hath aligned him so honourable penstoli, and that he intesd^
eth here to remain for term of his life, that yourMi^esty woOld bo
so good and gradoUs as to give him the dameof honour dfVjstOunt
of Ckmtarf, which is apbKO where he idteudelh with your Majei^e
fovour ta make hia ebode^ and to be a lo#d of the parfiamtat ted
of your oovDcd^ asngidog to bin such ammity with the aiid tenn
of honour, as shall stand with your Highness's pleasure. Whero'
fofOi in aoComplishment of thdr said requests, I BMSt humbly be-
seech your Ma}esty to be good unto him in this their bumble suit»
and mine* The man b very aged, and not like to charge your
Mi^esty very long."* This request was further urged by a m^mo^
rial from the Privy Council to the king, signed by the Master of the

• State Papers, temp. Hen. Vlll.

88 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

Rolls, (John Alen,)theArchbiflhopofDublin, the Bishop ofMeath,
Dean BasnetjLordGonnanstoB, Justices Aylmer andLuttrel, Tho-
mas Eustace, aftenrards created Lord Baltinglas, and three others.

The principal part of the possessions, which the priory of Kil-
mainham had enjoyed here, as above stated, was in 1600 granted
to Sir Geoffrey Fenton ; the rectory baring been then calculated
as of the annual value of forty shillings.* In 1608 these premises
were further assured to William, the son of Sir Geoffrey, and are
in both patents enumerated as <*the lordship, manor, orprecep-
tory, town and lands, islands and customs, &c of Gontarf, a wood,
called the Prior's wood, near Coelock, lying east of Coolock wood,
the rectory and tithes, great and small, oblations, &c. of Qontarf,*'
parcel of the estate of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, with
wrecks, royalties, liberty of fishing for the inhabitants and mariners
of Clontarf, within the parish, strand, and bay of Carlingford, with-
out paying tithes or other profits to the crown or vicar of Carling-
ford, or to any other person save the said grantee. It was this Sur
Geoffrey Fenton, who, in the office of Irish Secretary of State,
was employed by Queen Elizabeth, as English council, to watch
over the actions of the Viceroy, Sir John Perrot, a station which
he continued to fill during her reign and that of her successor for
twenty-seven years. His only daughter was married to Richard,
the first Earl of Cork.

In 1609 the parish church here was rebuilt. The regal visi-
tation of 1616 states the rectory to be impropriate, that Thel-

wall was the resident incumbent, and that the church and chancel
were in good repur.

In 1687 the afpresaid Sir WHliam Fenton had a confirmation
to him of the manor of Clontarf, under the commission for the re-
medy of defective titles, but, on the failure of his male line imme-
diately afterwards, the manor passed through a female to the King
family.

In the commencement of the war of 1641, Luke Netterville
and his adherents having seized a vessel which lay here and plun-
dered it of all its cargo, the Earl of Ormond was directed to avenge
the offence. Sir CharlesCoote was thereupon privately despatched

* Inquis. in Chief Rememb. Office.

CLONTARF. 89^

by him with some forces to Clontarf, where he humed a conside-
rahle portion of the town, especially Mr. George King's house,
destroyed the boats, and afterwards dispersed the insurgents at
Finglas and Santry. This wanton outrage which, as Borlase
^mrites, was ** excellently well executed,'' was attempted to be jus-
tified on the allegation that Mr. King, then the proprietor of the
town and manor, had been one of the gentlemen of the Pale,
who previously assembled at Sword s, and had further abetted the
pillaging of the ship. Mr. Carte comments* in no measured terms
on the atrocity of the outrage, particularly as, according to his
account, Mr. King was invited into Dublin by the Lords of the
Council on the day preceding the expedition, with an assurance
that he might safely repair thither, << without danger of any trou-
ble or stay whatsoever." On the other side, it is further alleged,
that the principal part of the vessel's cargo, which Netterville had
plundered, was found in King's house. King was immediately af-
terwards attainted, a reward of £400 was offered for his head, and
his estates, comprising this manor, Hollybrooks, and the Island
of Clontarf, stated as containing 9(^1 a. statute measure, were
granted to John Blackwell, a particular favourite of Oliver Crom-
well, who assigned his interest therein to John Vernon.

In 1660, Colonel Edward Vernon, son of said John, passed
patent for this manor in fee, together with all anchorages, fisheries,
creeks, sands, and seashores, wrecks of the sea, &c., which right
was saved in subsequent acts of parliament, and still remains in hb
descendant. This Colonel Edward had faithfully served Kings
Charles the First and Second in the wars of England and Ireland,
and been a considerable sufferer thereby in his person and fortune.
In the parliament of 1661 he was one of the representatives for
the borough of Carlingford.

In 1670 the king presented Henry Brereton to the rectories
of Clontarf and Ratheny.

In 1675, although the manor of Clontarf was of such high
antiquity, the king further enlarged its jurisdiction, tenures, and
courts with a grant of royalties (royal mines excepted), power to
empark three hundred acres, with free warren, privilege of holding

• Life of Ormond, Vol. I, p. 254.

90 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

twt> fairs, ono on the 10th of April, and the other on4he 6th of
October, with customs, &c.

In 1660 Adam Usher, clerk, had a grant of the impropnato
tithes and altarages of this rectory (to which he was then promoted)
at the annual rent of £6 2s, 6d.

In 1686 the before mentioned Colonel Edward Vetmon died,
^ised in free and common socage of this manor, and bf several
estiLtes in the counties of Dethj and Stafford. H^ had also the
honour pf Tutbury, thd raugership of the forest of Needwood, &c
(id left two daughtersi Elisa and Maria Vernon } the former died
without issue.

In 1605 a petition was preferred to the Irish legislature by Mr.
John Vernon of Dublin, merchant, and cousin german of the Co-
Idnelf settiiig forth th^t he had an equitable title to the manor
and lands of Clontarf and Holiybrooks, with the islands and ap-
purtenances, out of which he was unjustly kept under colour of
iMteri patent granted to Colonel Edward Vernon, but as the peti-
tioner alleged, in trust for him, and requiring, that as an act was
preparing to confirm the Act of Settlement, he might have a sav>-
iog of his right thereto, and a further saving was subsequently
prayed in behalf of Charles Melville, Esq.^ as having considerably
improved the lands of Clontarf. The rights of said John Vernon
in the premises, described as lying and being in the county of
Dublin and county of the city of Dublin, were accordingly after-
wards decreed by the House of Lords against the heiress of said
Colonel Vernon^ and confirmed by act of parliament in 1698.

For a notice of Clontarf in 1697, see << Artane," in that year.

In 1712 the king presented Frederick Usher to this rectory ,
sQon after which considerable controversy and litigation arose be-
tween the Vernon family and the Corporation of Dublin, the Utter
claiming title, as within their franchises, to a portion Of the btrUnd,
called Crab-lough, between the shore of Clontarf Und the North
BlilJ, while the former maintained that the said tract of strAnd,
comprising 195 acres, which they called the pool and island of
Clontarf, was parcel of their manor ; ftnd certainly^ in the later
perambulations, the authorities did cross from Ballybough Bridge
to Clontarf, and so to the Sheds of Clontarf, thenceforward to
the mill of Ratheny, from which they proceeded northward 130

CLONTARF. 91

perches to a little brook, which they asserted was the termination
of the city liberties in thftt direction. In 1731, however. Captain
John Vernon, on hb obtaining the estate, opposed the Corporation
in any further atteikipt to enter on his manor, in a speech yet ex-
tanty from the press of George Faulkner, and of which a portion
may appear interesting ; —

" My Lord Mayor, Shcriflfe, Commons^ and Citizens of the City
of Dublin — The residence of Mrs. Mafy Vernon, deceased, late
Lady of this Manor of QontArf, for ieverid years out of this king.
dom, being only a bare tenant for Ufe, therefore careless of the
rights and Hberties of said manor, hath given you for somo time an
opportunity of riding, with yoUr several corporations, along this
common high road, parcel of the said manor lying in the barony of
Coolock and county of Dublin at large, and not within the libef-
ties or jurisdiction of the county of the city, which arises merely
from, and is the limited creature of charter and matter of record*
This encroachment not being warranted by your charters, and par-
ticuUrly bj your charter de Kb^rkUibus of tke second of King
John, being the very essence and foundation of your liberties, ia
which not only the lands granted to the Knights Templars and
Hospitallers are expressly exempted^ though within the bounds of
the city, not to be in the city's jurisdiction, but with a further sav**
\ug of the lands and tenures granted by previous charter to others,
by which means the several religious houses and their possessions
were exempted from the city's jurisdictioB, and remain in the
county of Dublia to this day, as it appears by the many extant
records relating thereto.

<< The liberties of your city in the nOrth, lying most ContigUOtif
to my manor of Clontar^ are bounded (by your sitid obarter ifr
UbertaUbus) by the lands of Qonliffe, by the Tolki^ and by th«
church of St. Msajf Oxmantown. * * ♦ ♦ #

<< It perhaps has been thought a pidce of prudence in your pre-
decessors to annihilate your original chartersi that you, thbir sue-
cessorsy might be the more ignorant of your real liberties^ and
take upon you> by riding these pretended franchises, to prescribe
for imaginary and greater liberties than are by yOur charter war-
ranted, and so as by confounding the estates of the city with the
liberties of the city as not to know which is which, otherwise than

92 COUNTY aP DUBLIN.

as your Lordship's sword cuts them out, or as the last Lord Mayor's
horse informs you how far he was rode the last day ; hut the law
makes a wide difference between lands within the limits of a corpo-
ration and lands granted to a corporation, and makes this further
distinction, that the liberties of a corporation, limited and created
by charter, during the existence thereof no prescription can be
pleaded for the enlarging the bounds thereof contrary to the limi-
tation of the said charter, being the very essence and foundation,
not only of the corporation, but of the liberties thereof. And it
would be a manifest absurdity to imagine, that the estates or liber-
ties of any single person could be safe, however guarded by law,
if your Lordship, as to day, attended with so many thousands of
mobility, so unnaturally arrayed with military equipage, was by
that dreadful force to take counties and enlarge your liberties, and
to plead such tumultuous and forcible riding of your pretended
franchises in evidence, against the face of your charters and matter
of record. If these were or could be stifled in a court of justice,
indeed then your Lordship's sword might be brought in evidence
at the bar, of what estates or limits of an exterior county it has cut
off, and the horses of your warlike myrmidons summoned for the
same purpose, to show how far they have carried the extent of
your swelling city on their backs. • ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ •

" This being the first time of your attempting to ride these
your pretended franchises since my being seised and possessed of
this my manor of Clontarf, I therefore oppose your entrance, as
Colonel Edward Vernon did, on my said manor, and discharge you
therefrom, of which this road is parcel lying in the county at lai^ ;
and though as a single and private person I am not able to repel
such multitudes, yet do I thus put forward my claim to preserve
my rights against such force and tumult."— This very individual
was so soon afterwards as 1736 high sheriff of the county.

For a notice of Clontarf in 1732, see « Santry" at that year.

In 1749, the charter-school, before alluded to, was opened for
one hundred boys, the king's representative having laid the first
stone of the edifice ; but this, and other establishments of the
same class having excited national hostility, and consequently
prolonged anU-religious differences in Ireland, were, within the
last few years, wisely suppressed.

CLONTARF. 93

In 1756 the lead mine on the adjacent strand was discovered
and worked, but the overflowings of the tide prevented the pro-
secution of the undertaking.

In 1759 Mr. P. Ramsay bequeathed the interest of £200 to
the support of the charter-school. In 1766, John Usher was
presented by the crown to this rectory, on the resignation of
Frederick Usher. In 1771, the Rev. John Johnson, then rector
of the parish of HoUymount in the County Mayo, bequeathed
£200 to the governors of the before-mentioned charter-school,
<< in trust and towards the support of sidd school." He also left
£350 to the governors of the Hibernian School in the Phoenix
Park, << for the use of said establishment ;" a hke sum of £350
to the governors of the Marine School for its use, and £200 to
erect a room or ward in the hospital at Castlebar in the County
Mayo.

For a notice in 1786, see at the " Liflfey."

In 1811, on the resignation of John Usher, the king presented
Charles MuUoy to this rectory, who has been succeeded by Mr.
Handcock, the present incumbent. |n 1829, Mr. Michael Keary
of this town bequeathed £500 for the education of the Catholic
children thereof, and the sum of £50 for its poor, while he further
directed that £1000 should be applied towards building a chapel
here, and £200 for the erection of a school-room. In 1833 a
Loan Fund Society was established here for lending money on
security, at five per cent., to such industrious poor within the
parishes of Qontarf and Killester, as produced certificates of cha-
racter, signed by two parbhioners of known respectability. Such
loans to be repaid by weekly instalments of Is. in every pound*

In reference to its botany, Clontarf exhibits the
covrsli^i primula veris, smyrnium olusatrumy Alexan-
ders, a plant of a warm aromatic quality, and used,
when blanched, as a substitute for celery ; arenaria
rubra, purple sandwort ; papaver duhium, long
smooth-headed poppy ; Jumaria officinalis, common
fumitory ; Jumaria capreolata, climbing fumitory ;

94 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

to which Threlkcld adds narcissus sylvestris^ wild
daffodil. — In the neighbouring salt-marshes are
found scirpus maritimusy salt-marsh club rush ;
glaiur maritimay sea milk, otherwise called black
saltwort; this last flowers in summer, is found every*
where from Lapland to the Archipelago, and is
often used as a pickle ; chenopodium maritimum:,
sea-goose foot ; apium graveolens^ wild celery ; tri-
glochen marttimumj sea arrow-grass ; lychnis dioica^
red or white campion, commonly 'called bachelor's
button ; sctrpus glaucus, club rush. — On the old
walls, Valeriana rubra, red valerian; antirrhinum
cymbalariaj ivy-leaved snap-dragon ; — and on the
hedges, ligustrum vulgare, privet,

Thb Family op Vbbnon.

It is difficult to pass unnoticed a name of such high antiquity
and respectahility, when connected with a locality even by so mo-
dern a link as that which attaches it to this.

The Vernons deduce their pedigree from William de Vernon,
who, in 1052, assumed that surname from the town and district of
which he was proprietor. The former, situated in a most delight-
ful valley on the banks of the River Seine, within the diocese of
Evreux, and bailiwick of Gisors. In the same year this individual
adorned his native town by the erection of the noble collegiate
and parochial church of Notre Dame, which he endowed with one-
fourth part of the forest of Vernon, and other possessions ; that
fourth alone being defined as four leagues in circumference. The
founder was afterwards buried in the middle of its choir, as were
also many of his descendants. The cemetery is further remarka-
ble, as that in which repose the remains of the celebrated Marechal
de Belleisle.

This William de Vernon had two sons, Richard and Walter,
who both came into England with the Conqueror, as suggested in
Bromton's verses :

THE FAMILY OF VEUNON. 95

" Voiu qc desyrez assaver
Les nous des grauntz dela la mer
Qui vindrent od le Conquerour,
William Bastard de graunt vigour,

• • • • ♦

Vere et Vernoun,
Verdyers et Verdoun,"

&c &c. &c.

Bichard, the elder of these warriors, was by Hugh Lupus, Earl of
the County Palatine of Chester, created Baron of Shipbroke,
and became, before Domesday Survey, the proprietor of fifteen
manors within that county, Shipbroke being the " caput baroniae."
Walter had lands granted to him in Cheshire and Buckingham*
shire, and was a considerable benefactor to the ancient monastery
of St. Werburgh's, in Chester, from which some of the Irish reli-
gious houses were filled. He appears to have died without issue,
while William, the eldest son of the before-mentioned Richard, on
his decease, succeeded to his estates, and acquired others in Staf-^
fordshire, from Petronilla^ the daughter of Simon le Sage, for
which he gave to her two marks, and his wife one scarlet robe.

In 1 152, Lewis, King of France, besieged Vernon Castle in
Normandy, with a great army, for fifteen days ; and, being unable
to take it, entered into a secret negoctation with << Richard Ver-
non,** to raise the king's banner on the tower. This Richard was
a lineal descendant of William of 1052, and confirmed his endow-
ment to the church of Vernon, in the presence of his sons Bald-
win and Richard. In 1191, Cardinal Allard de Vernon was sent
by the Pope as legate to Antioch, to bring the Patriarch of An-
tioch to agree to the canons. In 1195, in pursuance of an agree-
ment entered into between Richard the First, King of England,
and Philip Augustus, King of France, Vernon was, with its castle
and other dependencies, granted to the latter by its then owner,
Richard de Vernon and his son Richard, in exchange for other
lands, rated at five knights' fees, since which time Vernon was
honoured with a royal palace, and frequently made part of the ap-
panage of the French queens. Parts of this palace and of the an-
cient castle yet remain.

In 1209, and subsequent years, a Richard de Vernon was she-t

96 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

riff of Lancashire. In 1214, William de Vernon was one of the
Justices in Eyre, and in 1230, Chief Justice of Chester. He is
considered the ancestor of the Vemons of Harlesdon, Haddon,
Sudbury, Hilton, and, in a word, of all the legitimate lines of this
family and name now existing. His immediate descendants extend-
ed their possessions in that century into Berkshire, Yorkshire,
Cumberland, and Wiltshire ; and one of them, by marriage with
the daughter of William Peverel, became proprietor of the Peak.
Vemons are also found in this century in Oxfordshire, Cambridge-
shire, Lincolnshire, Essex, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, North-
amptonshire, Derbyshire, and Surrey.

In 1265 the king granted to Eleanor, the consort of Prince
Edward, amongst other manors, that of Haddon, as forfeited by
Richard de Vernon. An inquisition of 1288 finds that Richard
de Vernon holds MerphuU and Wibreslegh, by service of free fo-
restry, and was to attend the king on summons, and follow his
standard with the same arms with which he kept his bailiwick of
the forest of Macclesfield. In 1293, King Edward the First, on
the marriage of Richard, the son of the last mentioned Richard de
Vernon, with Eleanor de Frenas, granted to them the manor of
Rochelive in special tail, with remainder to Richard, the father.
Other members of the family had then extended themselves into
Devonshire, Gloucestershire, Huntingdonshire, Kent^ Stafford-
shire, and Leicestershire.

In 1294, Robert de Vernon, of Wiltshire, was summoned to
attend a muster and military council at Worcester for service
against the Welch ; and again, in 1297, to the muster at Sand*
wich, for the war in Flanders ; and at Newcastle for that in Scot-
land. In the latter year Ralph de Vernon was summoned, as a
landed proprietor in Oxford, to perform military service in parts
beyond the seas ; while his son was appointed to raise the levies
in Cheshire ; and Richard de Vernon, as a landed proprietor in the
counties of Oxford and Derby, had similar summons against the
Scotch. In 1300 Robert de Vernon was one of the Justices of
Oyer and Terminer, assigned in the county of Wilts, and in 1301,
Richard de Vernon was summoned, as a landed proprietor in
Staffordshire, to perform military service in person against the
Scots. In 1314, Ralph de Vernon, lord of the townships of Han-

THE FAMILY OF VERNON, 97

welly Drayton, and MolHngton, in the county of Oxford, was sum-
moned to perform military service against the Scots. In 1322,
Hamo de Vernon was required, as a landed proprietor in Cam-
bridgeshire, to do service against the Scots ; while in 1824 Ri-
chard de Vernon, of Staffordshire, was summoned to attend a great
council.

In 1329, Richard de Vernon was found seised of Harleston,
in Staffordshire, with free warren, market and fair, little Appleby,
in Leicestershire, Adstock and Pitchcote in Buckinghamshire, &c. ;
and in 1338 was seised, in right of his wife Matilda, one of the
heiresses of her father William de Campville, of a moiety of the
manor of Lanstephen, in Caermarthenshire.

In the reign of Edward the Third, Sir William de Vernon,
a lineal ancestor of the present Lord Vernon, was chief justice of
Chester. A descendant of his. Sir Richard Vernon, was, in 1403,
speaker of the parliament held at Leicester, and afterwards con-
stituted treasurer of Calais.

In 1403» Sir Richard Vernon, Baron of Shipbroke, was one of
the chieftains of the army of the Percys at Shrewsbury. He
was taken prisoner, and, on the Monday following, with the Earl
of Worcester and the Baron of Kinderton, condemned and be-
headed. This Sir Richard, besides the other ordinarily enume-
rated possessions of the family, was seised of considerable estates
and manors in Glamorganshire. The Vernons were also landed
proprietors, to a large extent, in Lancashire at this time^ and
long subsequently.

Sir William Vernon, of Lord Vernon's lineal ancestry, was
also treasurer of Calais and constable of England for life, being
the last who was permitted to hold that great dignity, it being
looked upon as too important for a subject. He died in 1467,
and was buried in the before-mentioned church of Notre Dame
at Vernon. In 1500, Sir Henry Vernon, who had been pre-
viously governor and treasurer to Prince Arthur, eldest son and
heir apparent of Henry the S^enth, and afterwards his counsellor
for the management of Wales, officially signed the marriage arti-
cles between that Prince and the Prmcess Catherine of Spain, and
thel-e b a tradition that the prince frequently lived with Sir Henry,
at hb noble seat of Haddon in Derbyshire, where there is a cham.

98 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

i>er denominated his apartment, and, in which, his arms are carved
in several places.

In 1524, and again in 1535 and 1546, Thomas Vernon of
-Stoke-Say Castle v?a8 high sheriff of Shropsliire. He was a
younger son of the great family of the Vernons of Haddon, and
ancestor of the present Lord Scarsdale. In 1528 Sir John Ver-
non of Sudbury was of the king*s council for Wales, custos ro-
4uloTam of Derbyshire and sheriff of that county and of Notting-
hamshire.

In 1565 died Sir George Vernon of Haddon, celebrated by
Camden <<for his magnificent manner of living, his house open to
all men of worth, and his commendable hospitality, whence he
acquired, among the common people, the name of King of the
Peak.** By his daughters and heiresses his noble estate, consist-
ing of thirty lordships, came to John Manners of the family of
the Earl of Rutland, and Thomas Stanley of that of the Earls of
Derby. The male line of the Vernons was, however, continued
by the younger sons of Sir Henry Vernon, from the fourth of
ivhom, Humphrey Vernon of Hodnet, the present Lord Vernon
is descended, who also represents the Vernons of Haslington, and
those of Sudbury in the female line. About the year 1588 was
born of the Haddon line, William Vernon, the historian of War-
wickshire, justly celebrated for his skill, zeal, and systematic in-
dustry. In 1622 Sir George Vernon was one of the judges of the
Common Pleas in England, and afterwards a 6aron of the Ex-*
chequer. In 1653 died John Vernon of Little Bileigh in Essex,
who, having been for many years of his life a Greek or Turkey
merdiant, brought from the ruins of Smyrna a tombstone, under
which he and his wife lie buried in the chancel of the Abbey of
Bileigh. Amongst the English gentlemen, who compounded
for their estates during the Commonwealth, were Henry Vernon
of Haslington in Cheshire, and Edward Vernon of Hanbury in
Worcestershire.

In the year 1669 Mr. Francis Vernon, of the Worcestershire
family, was secretary to Mr. Ralph Montagu, afterwards Duke of
Montagu, ambassador extraordinary to Lewis the 14th of Prance.
This gentleman was a great traveller over various parts of Europe
and Asia, and has left behind him several tracts and a journal of

THE FAMILY OF VEBNON. 99

'hb travds ; he perisiied about tbe year 1677 in t'erlsia, having
been literally backed to pieces by sortie of (he Atabs* In 1670
George Vernon was appointed ranger of that magnificent tract^
Needwood forest, an office which has long continued in the fa-
mily. It was he who built the noble seat of the family at Sud*
bury, after the style of Inigo Jones.

In 1697 Mr. James Vemoni of the Hasliiigton )ine, wa3 ap-*
pointed secretary of state^ and filled that high station during the
remainder of the reign of King William. It is said of him, << that
never any secretary of state wrote so many letters with his own
hand as he, nor in a better style.'' He died in 1726, and was bu-
ried at Watford, where is a fine mural monument to his memory.
In 1709 died Sir Thomas Vernon, who had for many years been
one of the representatives of the city of London in parliament.

In 1710, and subsequent years, flourished Thomas Vemenof
the Worcestershire line, a lawyer whom Lord Kenyon character-
ized as << the ablest man in his profession.'^ He was secretary to the
Ainfortunate Duke of Monmouth, and compiler of the << Reports of
Cases in Chancery, from 83 Car. 2 to 6 Geo. 1." In 1739 the
illustrious Admiral Edward Vernon achieved the capture of Porto
Bello ; for which daring exploit he received the thanks of both
houses of parliament. He was the second son of James, the se-
cretary, and of the Staffordshire line of this family. He died in
1757, in the 73rd year of his age, and has a noble monument to
his memory in Westminster Abbey.

In 1762 George Venables Vernon, of Sudbury, was created a
peer of Great Britain, by the style and title of Lord Vernon,
Baron of Kinderton, in the county of Chester, and has transmit-
ted the dignities to the present lord. All that appears worthy
of notice, respecting. the Irish h'ne, has been stoted in the above
article.

From the before mentioned castle, recently erect-
fed at the extremity of the village of Clontarf, a very
pretty winding road, intersected by green lanes, enli-
vened with houses and villas for the accommodation
of bathers in the better days of this suburb, and com-

224765

100 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

manding delightful vistas of the bay and opposite
mountains, leads to the Sheds of Clontarf, a place so
denominated from several sheds or pent-houses, origi-
nally constructed there for persons employed in pre-
serving fish. A few houses, once of fashionable re-
sort, still maintain the name, though the Sheds have
long since vanished with the good days of the fish-
ermen. A commodious rectangular chapel has been
built here, principally upon the bequest of Mr. Keary,
before alluded to. A handsome porch projects seven-
teen feet from the building.

Continuing along the beach a pier is seen at the
right, erected as a breakwater for the service of the
harbour, and extending a considerable distance into
the bay ; the space between the shore and the sand
bank of the North Bull, which the mole traverses,
being connected by a wooden bridge on piles, that
admit the ingress and egress of the tide. " The
mole," remarks Mr. Armstrong, in his little work on
Fingal, " is firmly constructed of rough rock, and for
about two miles of its extent is topped by square
masses or blocks, and the glacis next the current faced
with cut stone, but the remaining part is merely com-
posed of rock and shingle thrown in promiscuously,
constituting, however, a strong and effective break-
water. It was constructed between the years 1820
and 1823, and from the shore to its termination ex-
tends a mile and three-fifths, or 3,200 feet ; the inten-
tion principally was to accelerate the current of the
retiring tide waters of the Liffey, and, by confining
them at the outlet, consequently augmenting their

THE NORTH BULL. lOl

force SO as to free the channel of impediments from
sediment or other obstructions. The works are appa-
rently yet in an unfinished state, and the completion
of the original design seems to be given up, but the
intention is perfectly fulfilled, a strong current ia
created which has forced a straight pi»sage through
the bar, and the harbour is not now so difficult of
access as formerly."

The broad strip of wavy sand, alluded to as comr
monly called the North Bull, is covered with a sickly
verdure, and occupies all the line between this shord
and the regular bay of Dublin, into which, diooting
its tail athwart the entrance of the Li£Pey, it form^
the bar, on the shoal part of which there are from six
to seven feet at low water of ordinary springs. This
insulated sand bank abounds with en/nghim mariti*
munii sea holly, and sedum acre, stone crop, while the
conchologist, who visits it after particular tides, will
be rewarded with a choice variety of shells. The
shores of Clontarf abound with the muscle, of whosQ
digestive services Horace is so laudatory —

** Si dcura morabitar alvus,
Mitylus et viles pellent obstantia ccmdiae."

A wild, high-banked skirt of shore, fringed with
some neat cottages and villas, leads from ^^ the Sheds"
to Blackbush, the seat of Mr. Guinness, and thence
to Killbarrock. On the shore side of this road the
botanist ynW&nd /edia olitoriay lamb's lettuce, salvia
verbenaca, wild clary, festuca elatior, great fescue
grass, arundo phragmitesy common reed, useful in
screens, for gardens, also as a foundation for plaster

lOar COVNTY OF DUBLIN.

in ceilings, thatch! for barns^ cottages^ and outhousesy
and for yarlow joiher pqrposes^ In the eastern coun-
ties of England it is considered so valuable, that the
fanner feels necessitated to send out boats and men
With fire-arms to scare away the birds from its welcome*
shelter. As the Evening begins to close, howeverr
clouds of starlings approadi from various quarters, in
numbers exceeding belief, to pass the night in the
reeds, and lighting in myriads, like the locusts of the
epst, upon this flexible plants (bey crush it to the water,
lodging and beating it down as grain after a storm ;
tod, though the guns of the boatmen sw^ep them away
by hundreds, the survivors are so drowsy that they
remain stationary, or move only a few yards from the
bodies of their slaughtered companions, and return oiv
the ensuing evening in numbers not apparently dimi-
nished, and with a total oblivion of the carnage of th&
preceding night. Tritkum loliaceumy dwarf sea wheat
grass, also abounds here; dipsacits sHvestris, wild tesL*
sel ; plantago maritima, sea plantain, of which speciea
Darwin writes —

" With strange deforq^ty Pkmtago ti^eads
A tnoiiBter birth, and lifU his huncfared beads'* —

lUkospermum officinale, common groundsel; beta mari-
ilma sea beet; scdsola kali, prickly saltwort, which is
frequently substituted for ckenopodium markimum,
and as such used in glass manufactories, although the
soda obtained from it is not equal to that of some
other species of salsola; coi^ndrum sativum^ cori-
ander, flowering in July ; silene maritima^ sea cam-
pion, pr catchfly, of which Darwin writes —

THE NORTH BULL.. f 03

" The fell Silene and her sisters &ir»
Skilled in destruction, spread the viscous snare j" —

arenaria peploidesy sea sandwort } ghucum luteum^
yellow horned poppy ; thalicirum minuSj lesser mea-
dow rue; cocAZeor/aq^ino/ii^, common scurvy-grass;
cocfUearia Danica^ Danish scurvy-grass ; cakUe tnch
ritimaj sea rocket ; brasica napiis, rape ; geranium
dmet^nif jogged leaved crane's-bill; malva sylves-
triSf common mallow^ abounding with a pure muci-'
lage, and possessing, though in a milder degree^ thq
emollient qualities of the marsh-mallow. In Horace's
time it was an article of diet,

** Me patcont oUvae,
Me cichorea levesque malvae/^

The Chinese eat the leaves of mallow either raw as
salad, or boiled as spinach ; aster tripoKum^ sea star-
wort ; pyrethrum marittmum, sea feverfew ; juncus
idigindmSi little bulbous rush ; juncus acutuSi great
aharp rudh ; juncus hulbosus^ round fruited rush, and
terastium armnsei field duckweed ; scirpus glaucusj
glaucous club-rush, flowering in August On the high
banks at the land side of this route, are found sambucus
nigra^ common elder; thymus serpyllum, wild thyme;
vicia lot hy r aides i spring vetch; trifdium arvense^
hareVfoot trefoil ; trifoUum scabrum, rough rigid
trefoil; fonchus arvensis^ com sow thistle; linum
angustifoliunh narrow-leaved pale flax.— In the fields
between Clontarf and Ratheny grow the Narcissus
biflorus, pale Narcissus, or primrose peerless, much
valued for its beauty and scents though the latter
soon becomes oppressive in a room ; also, the juncus

104 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

compressuSi round fruited rush; bromus secalmusj
smooth rye brome-grass. — While the ditches between
Clontarf and Beldoyle present the scrophtdaria no-
dasa, knotty-rooted figwort, &c.

In the geological department, it is to be remarked,
that near Clontarf is a bed of cimolitey of a greyish
white and pearl grey colour, friable, and intimately
allied with fullers' earth; galena is also met with
here in calp, as is blende, partly of a brown, partly
of a hyacinth red colour, and beautifully crystalized
in octohedrons and dodekahedrons.

Immediately beyond Blackbush, a turn at left
conducts, by Mr. Papworth's cottage ornie , to the
picturesquely situated little village of

RATHE NY,

so denominated from the rath, the remains of which
are still traceable opposite its church. Antiquarians,
however, may regret that this, like others, is vastly
curtailed of its fair proportions, the soil of such tu-
muli being found an excellent refreshment for tillage
lands.

Of these raths or duns, as they are indifferently
called in the Irish language, several are seen dispersed
through different parts of Ireland, but, as in outward
appearance they have much in common with the
moats or funeral mounds, it is, sometimes, difficult to
distinguish them. The latter, are, however, all artificial
erections, smaller and more precipitate, and conse-
quently wear the appearance of greater height, wjiile

RATHENY. 105

the former are a work of art, grafted, as it were, on
nature, exercised in commanding situations, cut out
of the hill, not raised from the plain, and in fosses,
ramparts, and entrenchments, even still presenting the
similitude of ** grim-visaged war.** In these raths,
at the era of their origin, the habitations of the chief
of the district and his family were constantly placed,
consisting in general only of small buildings cour
structed of earth and hurdles. They are popularly
called Danish structures, but are recorded as existing
before the Danes had settled in this island, and in
localities to which their incursions cannot be traced ;
while some of them bear evidence on their summits,
in cromlechs and stone circles, of that heathen reli-
gion which had wholly ceased before the period of
Danish tyranny. Their dimensions are various, but
their forms almost always round or oval, and some
have caves of considerable extent hollowed within
them.* One of this description shall be spoken of
hereafter at " Lucan."

A pretty but nameless little rivulet, which rises
near St. Margaret's, after passing by Harristown,
Sillock, Ballymun, Santry demesne and CoolocI^
winds through the valley near which this towp has
been built, and, rippling by what is called the manor
bouse, formerly celebrated for the valuable flowers of
its garden when in the occupation of the late Mr.

* See D*Alton*8 Essay on the Ancient History, &c. of Irel&acl»
p. 126, &c. in the 1st Part of the XVLth vol. of the Royal Irish Acade-
my*8 Transactions.

106 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Cave, empties itself into tbe sea near Mr. Papworth*s
cottage, where the parish mill formerly stood.

The church of Ratheny is a plain structure in
good repair, standing on a rising ground. It was
rebuilt in 1712, as a stone inserted in the wall indi*
cates, and was originally dedicated to St. Assan.
The interior is well preserved, but entirely destitute
of embellishment. It has two mural slabs of black
and white marble, commemorating respectively mem-
bers of the Harriscm and Finn families. At the west
fitd is. an elevaied pier, perforated with niches, in
one of which is placed the belL The churchyard
is bordered by several very ancient trees. In it are
monuments to Edmund Arcfabold, who died in 1711^
on^ to Robert Harrison of the city of Dublin, who
died in 1769, a monument for the relatives of Mr.
Law, formerly a banker in Dublin, another for the
Grogan family, &c.

. The parish takes its, name from the village, bor-
ders on the sea, and, according to the Trigonometrical
Survey, comprises 920a. 1r. 19p. In the IVotestant
establishment it is a single benefice, an undivided
rectory, in the deanery of Finglas, and patronage of
the crown, and has an excellent glebe-house near
the village, with a glebe* of fifty-six acres. In the
Roman Catholic arrangement, it is, as before men-
tioned, included in the union of Clontarf. — The po-
pulation of this parish, together with the village, was
returned in 1821 as 505 persons, and in 1831 as 608.
Lord Howth is the chief proprietor of the fee herein;
the average, rent of land, on modem lettings, varies

RATHBNY. 107

from £4 to £5; and a cabin without land is hired at
fi?om 2s. to Ss. per week, the wages* of labour being
I6rf,perday.

Ratheny has been already mentioned as the boun-
dary of the city jurisdiction in this direction^ and
there is a stone built into the angle of Mr. Pap*'
worth's cottage here, which was evidently intended
to denote that circumstance. It has carved upon it
the arms of the Howth family, with a tower in the
dexter chief of the field, possibly the ancient arms of
the city of Dublin, the date 1572, the initials C. E.
denoting (it is to be presumed) Civitas Eblana.

A great portion of the townland originally appertained to the
Priory of the .Holy Trinity, in Publin, i. e. Christ Chorch> while
king Henry the Second granted, or it would rather appear con-
^nned ,iq the abbey of the Blessed Virgin, (inter alia) other lands
in JKatheny, with all their appurtenances, and all shipwrecks, toge*
ther with sac and soc, toll and them, infangthef, outfangthef, and
aH liberties and free customs.t The former religious house there-
upon exchanged the principal part of their estates here with the
Utter for other possessions.^

A section of Ratheny was, about the same time, granted by
Earl Strongbow <<as fully as Grilcolm had previously held the
^ame,** to John de Courcy, the celebrated chieftain, who had re-
ceived from King Henry, while in Ireland, a grant of the province
of Ulster, with the very necessary proviso, that he should first re-
duce it by the force of his arms. And here, in the vicinity of
his sworn comrade, Sir Armoricus St. Lawrence, in the very view
of those mountains of Mourne, which overlooked his future pos-
sessions, this rugged soldier assembled around him the fiery spirits

♦ It may be here observed^ that all statements of the wages of
labour in this work» imply wages without food,
t Dugdale*8 Monasticon AngUcanum.
.. X Repcrtorlum Viridc.

110 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

Hodgestown, greater Tyrrelstown, lesser Tyrrelstown, Milwards-
town, Colcot, and Calliaghton, SOOa. ; Kittagbstown, Liough-
bran, and Moyne, 100a. ; Raibeny being tbere stated as so
bcld by him under tbe dean and chapter of Christ Church,
Stapolin from the king, in capite, by knight's service, and
the remainder from Peter Bamewall, as of his manor of Bal-
rothery. In 1625 Peter Delahoyde of Punchestown in the County
Kildare, died seised of two messuages and 120 acres here, which
he held of the king by knight's service.* For a notice in 1639*,
see at « Coolock."

In 1641 the Earl of Ormond was directed to disperse the in-
surgents who had assembled here and at Killbarrock. (See post,
at « Killbarrock.")

In the forfeitures incident to the civil wars of that period,
Charles Viscount Fitz Harding had a grant of 106 acres in
Ratheny, (with certain savings of rights under decrees to John
Delahoyde and James Grace,)t of which said Charles died seised
in 1672. J Lord Fitz Harding's portion appears to have been
theretofore the estate of John Talbot of Robertstown in the
County Meath, and forfeited by him in 164U§

Part of the village and a few acres adjacent came subsequently
into the possession of a member of the Grace family, who is said
to have rebuilt the house now in the occupation of Mr. Sweetman.
For a record of Ratheny in 1670, see " Clontarf" at that year.

In 1680 the king presented Patrick Grattan to this rectory,
who was succeeded in 1703 by John Grattan, he in 1731 by
Marmaduke Phillips, and he in 1735 by Ralph Cocking, all on
similar presentation. For a notice in 1732, see at " Santry."

In 1774 William Shaw succeeded Cocking as rector of Ratheny,
and was himself succeeded by George Stevenson in 1796; Latham
Coddington was next presented to this benefice in 1802, Doctor
Richard Graves in 1809, Francis Fox in 1814, and the Hon.
George Gore in 1821, all by royal presentation.

In latter times, in perambulating the franchises as before al-
luded to, the city officers assumed to shape their course from

• Inquis. in Cane. Hib.
- - t Pat 19 Char; 2. in RoUs Office.
} Inquis. in Cane. Hib. § lb.

ilATHENY. Ill

Ballybough Bridge along the strand to Clontarf, thenceforward
to the mill of Ratheny, and from the mill northward 130 perches
to a little brook, which, they set up as the extent of their Hberties.
The claim was, however, res'isted as an intrusion by the Vernon
family, as before mentioned at " Clontarf.'*

In 1802 Mr, Dick left £30 of the Irish currency of that time
per annum, (erroneously stated as £40 British in the £ducation
Report of 1835,) as an endowment for a school here for poor
children of all religious persuasions. This grant is paid out of the
rental of a crescent of eight small cottages in the village, and, if
at any time that rental should fall short of the specified annuity,
it is to be made good out of other properties of the testator. la
1818 Mrs. Anne Preston bequeathed, amongst other charitable
legacies, £100 to be laid out at interest, and such Interest to b«
applied for the poor of this parish..

In the neighbourhood of Ratheny is Violet Hill,
the handsome seat of Mr. Mac Conchy, from whose
groves, when visited for the purpose of this work,
the first cuckoo of the season, with hollow and appa*
rently distant voice, was summoning its silent mate
from the remoter copse of the valley.

The botany of this vicinity may be thus classified.
Common about it grow hordeum pratense^ meadow
barley ; a variety of the primula verts, with scarlet
flowers, thlaspi arvense, penny cress, Jumaria officii
natis, common fumitory,^maria capreolata, climbing
fumitory, polygala vulgaris, milkwort, ulear Muro-
p6Bus, common furze, lathyrus pratensts, meadow
v6tchling, picris echioid^s, bristly ox-tongue, apargia
hirta, deficient hawk*bit, senecio tenuifoliis, hoary
ragwort, and Ustera ovata, common tway blade. — In
the fields and on the banks are found orchis pyramid
dalis, pyramidal orchis, orchis morio, green-winged
orchis, orchis maciUata, spotted palmate orchis —

1 12 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

** With blushes bright as mora fiiir orchis charms'* —

poterium sangvisorba^ salad bumet, a choice salad
herb for winter and spring use, it being of a warm
nature ; the young leaves are the useful parts. The
chief property that gives value to this plant is its
hardy nature, keeping green all the winter, and its
early growth. If left uncut (says Sinclair) in au-
tumn, it will afford green food from October till
April. — In the adjacent wet ditches the callitriche
verna^ vernal water-starwort, exhibits " its starry eye
and radiant hair." Epilohium parvifloruniy small
flowered willow herb, is also found in the same situa-
tion. — The corn-fields shew specimens of chn/san-
themum segeturrty com marigold ; the gravel pits
papaver hybridumi round rough-headed poppy. In
the waste grounds is found anthemis cotula^ fetid cha-
momile ; in the hedges clematis vitalba^ common tra-
veller's joy ; and near the church, unatricharia chor
momillaj wild chamomile, flourishes abundantly; while
between Ratheny and the sea, near the late residence
of Mr. Cave, are found myrrhis temulentaj rough
cow parsley, sium angmtifoUum^ narrow-leaved water
parsnip, ranunculus lingua^ great spearwort crowfoot,
draba vema^ common whitlow grass, and rosa spino-
Bissima, the burnet rose.

From Ratheny to Howth, the road passes over the
dreary sandy isthmus which connects that hill with the
mainland, uncultivated, and, it would seem, incapable
of cultivation. About midway on the road side, and
close to the sea-shore, appear the not uninteresting
remains of the church of

KILLBARROCK. 113

KILLBARROCK,

a townland, deriving its name, like all those of Irish
topography, from the presence of such an edifice,
« Kill."

Unretarded by wall, or ditch, or fence, the visiter,
gilding amongst a few sodded and slippery graves,
and firming his steps by the headstones and crosses
that distinguish them, finds himself in the once votive
chapel of the mariners who frequented the bay, and at
whose altar, on their arrival, they had prayers offered
up for the souls of those of their messmates who had
perished at sea; a dutiful comemmoration, which, how-
ever some may deem superstition, is the sublimest
link in the religion of the Roman Catholic — the link
that prolongs communion with the parent, the rela-
tive, and the friend, on whom this world has closed
for ever.

The architectural appearance of this chapel is not
imposing, only exhibiting some circular and pointed
arches, without any visible remains of a steeple or
belfry ; the vistas and sections of prospect, how-
ever, as framed by the arches and windows of the
ruins, afford a series of views which cannot fail to gra-
tify the commonest observer, and even well to recom-
pense the draughtsman. A broken tombstone in the
grave-yard has now ceased to record the once cele-
brated Higgins, the first establisher of the Freeman's
Journal^ and well known by the soubriquet of the
sham Squire ;' nor are there any other monuments
here to reward inquiry ; but there were some living

114 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

adventitious charms in the scene, deeply emblematic of
its more solemn associations. The butterflies were
flitting over the narrow homes of the departed, the
waves were breaking in sullen murmurs along the
shore, " fretting their hour" ere the ebb, while

" From the green waving corn
The lark spreads his wings,
And hails as he sings
The fresh glow of the morn ;
With pinions replenished he hovers on high.
And so far sends his song from the blue vaulted sky,
You would think the shrill note, as he soars from your view,
To his dear native earth bade for ever adieu ;

But his eye is still fixed where his wing shall repose,
And, though heavenward his flight
He upholds with delight.
Yet with rapture he darts to the spot whence he rose.'*

The maritime parish of Killbarrock contains, ac-
cording to the Trigonometrical Survey, 740a. Or.
13p. and ranks as a chapelry without glebe or glebe-
house, in the union of Howth, both in the Protestant
and Catholic dispensations. Its population is consi-
dered as about 190 persons, of whom 145 are stated
to be Catholics. This, together with the parish of
Howth, has compounded for tithes to the incumbent,
at £231 per annum. Lord Howth is the proprietor
of the fee, but the parish is accounted within the ma-
nor and jurisdiction of Grange Gorman.

The chapel here, more anciently called Mone, originally be-
longed to the monastery of the Blessed Virgin, but was by its
fraternity exchanged for the tithes of Ballyboghil, whereupon Kill-
barrock was annexed to the Prebend of Howth.*

At the commencement of the thirteenth century, Sir John d«

• Alan Reg.

KILLS ABROCK. 115

Courcy, mentioned before at Ratheny, bore tbe title of Lord of
Killbarrock ; the lands, however, and manor appear at this early
period to have passed from the Tuite family, who had a grant of
them immediately after the English invasion, to the Lords of
Howth, who held by the tenure of rendering a pair of furred
gloves to the King, being the service theretofore reserved and
paid by the Tuites,* while other inquisitions state the fee to be
in the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church.

In 1538 Christopher Lord St. Lawrence had license to con-
vey to trustees " the manor of Howth, with the appurtenances in
Stapolin, Killbarrock, and KiUester," the three Ronans, Whites-
town, Parnellstown, Kittaghstown, the Ward, ficcf and levied fines
thereof in 1541.

At the time of the dissolution it was found on inquisition thai
the tithes of Killbarrock were payable out of the townlands of
Killbarrock and Little Main, worth annually £6 15^., besides the
altarages, which were assigned for the curate, while the farmer of
the tithe was bound to repair the chancel4 It was also found that
the priory of All Hallows was possessed of fourteen acres here.§

In 1606 Nicholas Lord Howth died, seised of six messuages
and eighty acres here, twenty-five in Gigmalin, two messuages
and fifty-nine acres in Boranstown, &c.

In 1641 a special proclamation issued from the Castle, an-
nouncing that " divers of the inhabitanU of Clontarf, Ratheny,
and Killbarrock, had declared themselves rebels, and that, having
robbed and spoiled some of his Majesty's good subjects, they had
assembled thereabouts in arms in great numbers, mustering and
training of their rebellious multitudes, as well at land as at sea ;" it
was therefore ordered tliat a party of soldiers should be sent out to
endeavour to cut them off, and to bum and spoil their houses and
goods, and further to cause their boats and vesseb there to be
brought up " to the new crane at Dublin, and to burn or sink such
as they could not so bring up."

Of the extent of this parish on survey in 1734, see ** Howth"
at that year.

• Charter Roll 9 John. Tur. Lond. t Roll, in Cane Hib.

X Inquis. in Cane. Hib. § lb.

116 COUNTY OF DUBLIN,

About Killbarrock the botanist will find cynoglos-
sum officmahy common hound's tongue ; lycopsis ar-
vensisj small bugloss; hyoscyamus niger^ common
henbane, whose seeds, leaves, and roots are poisonous ;
neither horses, cows, sheep, nor swine will eat of it ;
fowl picking it in quantity die, whence its name of
henbane ; and it is asserted that the leaves scattered
about a house will even banish mice. There are also
found here erythrcea centaurium^ common centaury;
cerastlum arvense^ field mouse ear chickweed ; sper-
giUa arvensisycom spurrey ; papaver hybridumy round
rough headed poppy; erodium cicutarium, hemlock
stocks bill ; sonchus arvensis, corn sow thistle ; apar-
gia hirta, deficient hawkbit; apargia autumncUisy
autumnal hawkbit; trifolium scabrum, rough rigid
trefoil. In the fields near it myosotis versicolor^ yel-
and blue scorpion grass, viola tricolor^ the pansy violet,
or heart's ease ; fumaria capreolata, climbing fumi-
tory; viola lutea, yellow pansy; saa:ifraga granulata,
white meadow saxifrage ; vicia sativaj common vetch,
an excellent fodder for horses, it is also remarked
that pigeons are very fond of the seeds, which in some
parts of Sweden enter into the composition of bread,
either alone or mixed with the flower of rye ; crepis
Uennis^roM^ hawk's beard ; chrysanthemum segetum,
com marigold; orchis jn/ramidalis^ pyramidal orchis ;
papaver Rhwas^ common red poppy, of which the so
much admired double French poppy of the gardens is
a species ; papaver somni/erum.^ white poppy ; lychnis
dioicay red or white campion, of which the double
red French campion of the gardens is a species; agros-

KILLBARROCK. 1 17

tema githago, corn cockle, flowering in June and
July ; trifolium maritimum^ sea trefoil, flowering in
June. — In the marshes behind Kilbarrock church,
arundo phragmiteSj common reed; and gnapluzlium
tdiginosumy marsh everlasting. On the walls or
about the ruins of the church, euphorbia Portlan-
dicQj Portland spurge, flowering late in August;
carduus marianus^ milk thistle, which here attains
a height of five or six feet. The young stalks, says
Rutty, are eaten raw, and the heads are used as arti-
chokes ; cerastium semidecandrum, little mouse ear
chickweed ; papaver argemonet long prickly headed
poppy ; Jimuma capreolatay ramping fumitory. — On
the hedges, trifolium officinale^ melilot, and picris
echioides, bristly ox tongue. — On the sea shore, lepi-
dium ruderaley narrow-leaved pepperwort, and viola
hirtOy hairy violet. While between this and Beldoyle
grows orchis mascula^ early purple orchis ; and in the
waste grounds on the way to Howth, gnaphalium
Germanicum^ common cudweed, and arctium lappa,
common burdock or clott burr, the outer scales of
whose calyx so constantly adhere to animals, clothes,
or any soft substances with which they come in con-
tact.

Continuing along the shore from Killbarrock to
Sutton, the barnacles were seen in dusky groups
floating over the shallow waters, and occasionally div-
ing for their favourite food, the roots of aquatic plants.
This strand, however, does not afford much of their
genial diet, and accordingly the flesh of the bird is
here rank and unsavoury. Occasionally, too, a lonely

118 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

heron may be seen basking in the sun, with her pen-
dent, as if almost dislocated, wings.

SUTTON,

the next locality, is situated in the parish of Howth,
and on the ascent of its hill ; Lord Howth and Mr,
Newcomen are proprietors of the fee. Rent is about
£4 per acre, while the labourer's wages is 8^. per
week.

Here is one of the oyster beds which supply the
metropolis, it is not, however, of natural growth,
but renewed from Arklow, as the consumption may
require. The oysters, when first deposited, are of a
gelatinous consistence, and very small, not much above
two inches in diameter, but being laid down gradually
increase in bulk and hardness. Muscles are also taken
in quantities here. Beyond the oyster beds is one of
those singular monuments of former jobbing, a mar-
tello tower, above which is seen the romantic and im-
proved villa of Mr. Kildahl, a spot of emerald verdure
on the brown face of the promontory.

Of the geology of Sutton a contemporary takes the
following notice : —

" A bed of dolomite, accompanied by greyish
limestone, which first appears at a few points to the
south of Skerries, after dipping beneath the sands of
Portmamock and Malahide, re-appears near the har-
bour of Howth. This same bed, sweeping round
the base of the promontory, is next found near Sut-
ton, at its south-western point. Here it is quarried.

SUTTON. 119

/ gjjj jgnce at no distant period it was exported to
/ Engknd, where the magnesian earth was extracted
/ /j^„j it, and converted into a series of valuable pre-
/ parations. The following is an outline of the process,
by the prosecution o( which Dr. Henry of Manchester
is said to have realized a splendid fortune : The do-
lomite, which consists of a mixture of carbonate of
lime and carbonate of magnesia, is broken into frag-
ments of the size of an egg, and burned as usual in a
common kiln. By this process the carbonic acid or
fixed air is expelled, and the earths remain. Upon
a known weight of these, such a quantity of pyrolig-
neous acid is next digested, as is inferred from pre-
vious experiment to be exactly adequate to the satu*
ration of the lime. This latter earth, in virtue of its
superior affinity, is exclusively taken up, and washed
off in the form of acetate of lime; and the magnesia
left behind is converted into sulphate or Epsom salt,
which is purified by processes well known to the
practical chemist. From the purified Epsom, the
carbonate of magnesia is easily thrown down by the
addition of a suitable quantity of an alkaline carbonate,
and from the carbonate the calcined magnesia is ob-
tained, by the application of the minimum degree of
heat necessary for the expulsion of the carbonic acid.
The impure acetate of lime, also, formed in the com-
mencement of the process, is a product of considerable
value. When subjected to a gentle torrefaction, so
as to destroy the bitumen which adheres to it, it
yields, when properly treated with oil of vitriol, acetic
acid in its purest form, and of any degree of strength

120 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

which the manufacturer may choose. It is, in fact,
possible, by a modification of this process, to procure
it so strong as to include but 15 per cent, of water,
and to congeal, when exposed to a temperature some
degrees above the melting point of ice. Why should
not this process be practised in our native city ? Or
wherefore b it that our most valuable minerals be-
come productive only when worked by English hands?
We will not venture upon supplying any response to
these interrogatories, but will merely express a hope
that the period is not far distant, when Irishmen will
merge party in national objects, and when the boun-
ties of Providence shall cease to be marred by the
folly or the wickedness of man." It may not be un-
interesting to the reader to know, that the celebrated
Parian marble belongs to the dolomite species, as does
that of lona in the Hebrides, while those splendid
edifices, the cathedral of Milan, and the minster
of York, are both constructed of magnesian lime-
stone.*

^' The black oxide of manganese is also found at
Sutton, and in the immediate vicinity of the magne-
sian limestone. It has been raised and prepared for
sale in considerable quantity, and sold to the manu-
facturers of the bleaching salt of lime, and of the
different other more recently fabricated compounds,
of which chlorine is the active element."

In 1616, Sutton was found by inquisition to be part of the
possessions of the Howth family, but, by what right, said the jury,

• Allan's Mineralogy.

SUTTON. 121

Vie cannot discover. It does appear, however, that a portion of
it, about 240 acres, was granted after the Restoration to an Alder-
man Goff, and has, by mesne assignments, descended to a Mr.
Newcomen.

In 1696, the William packet-ship, coming from Holyhead with
eighty passengers, among whom was Brigadier-General Edward Fitz
Patrick, the elder brother of Richard 6rst Lord Gowran, whose son
was created Earl of Upper Ossory, was by a violent storm cast
away near this phice, when all except the master and a boy were
lost. The body of General Fitz Patrick was found upon the
shore, brought to Dublin, and honourably interred in the choir of
St. Patrick's cathedral.

From Sutton a wild mountain road, overhanging the
sea, treads a maze of hills and glens, thickets of furze,
shady avenues of stunted trees, bold projections of
rock, and, over brawling streams that trickle from the
higher grounds, ascends to the little village of Sancer,
and the wildly situated seat of Mrs. Hannington, im-
mediately above which the first noble view is caught
of the Bailly rock and light-house and the deep
green sea, over which the frequent sparrow-hawks
may be seen as poised in the deserted air, and the
dark-winged cormorants, the tyrants of another ele-
ment, screaming below them and plunging from the
giddy cliffs into the deep for their fishy food.

Continuing in a yet wilder course, the wanderer
of the mountain commands many interesting views of
the creeks and cavemed shores of Howth, the city,
and the bay, with the here peculiarly magical appari-
tion of the south wall light-house, rearing itself from
the depth of the waters two miles in the sea, and
seemingly unconnected with the mainland, and ulti-
mately comes down upon that singular rock, the

122 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Bailly, which is again spirally ascended to its summit
Pharos, shining with a neatness peculiar to these edi-
fices. Its lights are twenty, suitably furnished with
reflectors, &c. Round the dome runs an outer gal-
lery, lightly, but securely, railed, which affords aw-
fully sublime prospects of the magnificent panorama
that surrounds it.

Before leaving the Bailly it is worth observing,
that situated as it is on the most southern point of
Howth, it is distant from the Isle of Dalkey on the
opposite shore, six and three-quarters English miles,
while from a line supposed to unite those objects, the
light-house on the south wall would be distant three
and three-quarters, and Ringsend from the same, six
and three-quarters.

The historian will also recognise it as the spot,
whither, according to tradition, on the memorable
day of Clontarf, the most obstinate of the discomfited
Danes retired, insulated the promontory, and de-
fended themselves until they were carried off by the
vessels of their countrymen. Their situation recalled
the lines :

** Nigfat closed around the warriors' way.
And lightning shewed the distant bill.
Where those, who lost that dreadful day.
Stood few and faint, but fearless still."

HOWTH.

As the hill of Howth is usually one of the ear-
liest land-marks that announces Ireland to English
visiters, the subject may excite some interest beyond

HOWTU. 123

that of ordinary localities. Its natural wildness of
scenery, and sublimity of prospect, early attracted to
it the attention of all who could feel the interest of
such associations, while a Sunday drive to its base,
and a ramble over its steeps and amongst its rocks,
was esteemed the most grateful recreation by the citi-
zens of Dublin, even at a period when the "going
and coming" by the rude machinery of the ordinary
conveyances must have consumed a portion of time,
that scarcely left a moment to explore the object
when attained.

A poet of the day thus alludes to these excur-
sions, toilsome as they were, yet, perhaps, on that
very account the more excitingly amusive.

** Well might an artist travel from afar.
To view the structure of a low-backed car :
A downj mattress on the car is laid.
The father sits beside his tender maid.
Some back to back, some side to side are placed.
The children in the centre interlaced.
By dozens thus, full many a Sunday mom.
With dangling legs the jovial crowd is borne j —
Clontarf they seek, or Howth's aspiring brow.
Or Leixlip smiling on the stream below.*'

The locality seems, however, at this day less fre-
quented for rural indulgence, than it was in the
" olden" time, and perhaps this cessation of visiters
may be greatly attributable to the two turnpikes that
guard its approach.

The promontory, generally called the Hill of
Howth, is connected with the main land by the be-
fore-mentioned sandy isthmus, and forms the nor-
thern entrance of Dublin bay, being elevated 578

124 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

feet above low water mark. It was anciently called
Ben-na-dair, as it is supposed from the quantity of
venerable oaks that then waved over its fertile decli-
vities, and religiously shadowed one of those Pagan
altars or cromlechs, which yet remain, and are, as the
author of this work has elsewhere endeavoured to prove,
attributable to a species of the Magian priesthood.
The sides of the hill are rocky and precipitous, and
are considered to present somewhat of the appearance
of a miniature Gibraltar ; a circumstance, which in
conjunction with the awjid religious rites performed
on it, appear to have given it the Irish epithet still
traceable in its name.

Of the ancient Castle of the Earls of Howth only
a small square tower, commonly called Corr Castle,
remains upon the present race-ground. Their more
modem residence is seen at right of the road ascend-
ing to the town. It is a long, battlemented struc-
ture, flanked by square towers at each extremity, and
approached by a large flight of steps leading to a spa-
cious hall, furnished with relics of antiquity, while in
the saloon are some fine portraits, especially one of
Dean Swift, by Bindon. It was painted in 1735, and
represents him in his clerical costume, with Wood at
his feet, to the right of the picture, writhing in agony.
Swift, it may be observed, had been a frequent visiter
in this castle. In one of his letters, in 1734, he
writes : " The weather yesterday being very fine, I
rode to Howth house, and as I was getting on horse-
back to return, I was seized with so cruel a fit of that
giddiness, which at times hath pursued me from my

HOWTH. 125

youth, that I was forced to lie down on a bed in the
empty house for two hours, before I was in a condition
to ride."*

On an eminence beyond the turn to this Castle
IS a neat parish church, to which succeeds, also at right,
a pretty villa erected for Sir Edward Lees, when se-
cretary of the Irish post-office. The next and princi-
pal object of architectural attraction here is the har-
bour, for the formation of which a series of acts of
pa^liame^t (45 Geo. 3, c. 1 13—50 Geo. 3, c. 72—
58 Geo. 3, c. 61—4 Geo. 4, c. 74—6 Geo. 4,c. 100
— 7 Geo. 4, c. 76—7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 35—9 Geo. 4,
c. 75—1 Will. 4, c. 67— and 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 43)
have been made ; and accordingly a harbour was con-
structed, embracing an area of fifty-two English acres,
enclosed by two piers, the western 2,700 feet in length,
the eastern composed of three limbs, whose lengths
successively are 1,200, 220, and 860 feet, having at
one extremity a small light-house. The breadth of
the entrance between the jetties is 320 feet ; the depth
at entrance is eleven feet at low water, and on the
rise of the tide varies from nine to twelve feet. The
breadth of the causeway on the western pier is forty
feet, and the base of the same pier measures one hun-
dred and thirty. The carriage way formed on the
east pier is fifly feet broad, and the base of the pier
itself two hundred. This noble work was eflTected at
the cost of £300,000, a considerable portion of which
was incurred by raising rocks from the bottom of the
basin by means of the diving bell. Yet the harbour

• Mason's St. Patrick's Cathedral, p. 406.

126 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

did not admit vessels of large burden or great draught,
while, according to engineers, so injudicious was its
location, that had it been constructed but one furlong
to the eastward of its present situation, the navy of
Great Britain might have been moored within it,
sheltered from the prevailing winds, in a safe anchor-
age, and a depth of water uninfluenced by ebb or flow
of tide.

But even this work, so dearly purchased by the
nation, has been already superseded, and another ge-
neration may traverse the mossy causeway, and vainly
seek the spot where the only monarch landed who
came in peace to Ireland ;

** Atque, ubi portus erat, tunc siccum litus."

It is rapidly filling with mud and sand, and now but ac-
commodates four wherries and five smacks employed
in the fisheries. Each wherry carries seven or eight
men, and used to have a bounty from government,
now withdrawn. The hands are all engaged in shares,
two of which go to the owner of the wherry, and in
the proper seasons they catch cod, ling, haddock, ray,
herrings, &c. It is also remarkable that, after all the
money that has been expended in this place, it has
not yet a boat-builder, carpenter, ropemaker, or
blacksmith.

From the harbour the tourist ascends into the
town, which consists of a single street, running along
the edge of the cliffs, with a congregation of huts
branching down the declivity to the water. At the
highest point of the village over the sea, appear the
venerable remains of its ancient abbey, one of the

HOWTH. 127

few specimens of Gothic pointed architecture which
the county of Dublin affords; yet, so deformed is
the appearance of the sacred structure by a horde
of the lowest grade who occupy a portion of it, that
the stranger inquires for the abbey even in the heart of
its cloisters. It was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin,
and " had" (says Mr. Bell, in his " Essay on Irish
Architecture") "in its perfect state a double roof,
supported at each end by pointed gables, and each
division of the church had an eastern window ; the
larger one consists of three compartments, divided by
mullions ; the two extreme ones are trefoiled at the
top, and the centre division rises in the pointed form,
above an archway, which seems to have been a later
addition. The window of the back aisle is also
divided into three compartmentiJ, the centre one
rising the highest, though all their tops are circular.
There are two entrances by gothic pointed arches,
one at the south side, which had formerly been a
porch, into the body of the church, and the other, at
the west end, into the back aisle. A flat embattled
belfry, with pointed arches for three bells, springs
from the gable at the western extremity, opposite to
the great window." — The original bells of this abbey
are still preserved at the castle. When the church
was dismantled they were deposited in a vault, whence,
at the time of building the new parish church, they
were drawn up with the object of furnishing its bel-
fry, but on examination they were found cracked and
unfit for use. In the south aisle is the tomb of
Christopher, the twentieth Lord Howth, who died in

128 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

1589. On the slab of this monument, in very high
relief, is the eflSgy of the Baron recumbent, habited
in the armour of a knight, with his faithful dog at
his feet ; by his side lies the Baroness, (who was the
daughter of Sir John Plunkett of Beaulieu,) attired
in the costume of the age, and the heads of both sup-
ported by tasselled cushions. The sides of the tomb
are divided into compartments, and ornamented with
rich foliage and gothic scroll work; each compartment
containing an escutcheon of the family's arms and those
into which they had intermarried. On one side are
the arms of the St. Lawrences, and other shields
charged with devices ; on the other, those of the
Plunketts, Cusacks, Flemings, and Butlers. The ends
are sculptured with a group of saints, and round the
slab was a gothic inscription, now defaced. There
are other monuments in this cemetery, but of no com-
parative importance.

A battlemented wall surrounds the grave-yard,
on which, he who sits and gazes upon the scattered
fragments of architecture, and the tombs mingled
with weeds and shadowed with ivy, cannot but think
of bygone times, and many who once proudly main-
tained their characters on the stage of life, now
mingled with the dust of this cemetery. The Book
of Howth, compiled in this abbey, and containing a
romantic chronicle of Irish affairs from A. D. 432 to
1370, is supposed to be yet extant.

Passing hence through the town, a very commo-
dious modem chapel appears in its centre, surrounded
by a small grave-yard. Near it are two schools^ one

HOWTH. 129

for boys and the other for girls ; to the former the Na-
tional Board allows £12, to the latter £8 annually;
the number of pupils in both was reported in 1834 as
130, now increased to about I6O.

A wild bridle-road guides the visiter hence to the
summit of the hill, where the old light-house had
been erected, and where a panorama of unrivalled
magnificence presents itself. Here the town itself
is distinguished, in its best aspect, slanting down the
side of the hill, a village Tivoli, consecrated by the
ruins of its better days ; thence the view, ranging over
the little harbour occasionally animated with steamers
and fishing-smacks, the holy solitude of St. Nessan's
Island, (Ireland's Eye,) the remoter eminences of
Lambay, and the blue mountains of Moume sha-
dowed on the horizon, is lost in the expanse of sea,
the mass of heaving waters, that, in modem parlance,
unites ours to the Sister Island. There, on the op-
posite side of a bay, which is well known to rival that
of Naples, Bray-head and the Rochestown hills, peer-
ing over the water, gradually elevate the spectator's
attention to those Wicklow mountains, which, softly
defined by lines as of light blue vapour, seem just
arranged in a position to offer the most picturesque
outline and finest termination ; while nearer, a suc-
cession of castles, along the southern shore, invested
with their own historic associations, relieve the eye as
it glances along the bay to where burnished domes
and crowded steeples foretoken — the Metropolis of
Ireland. The descent from the above point to the
before-mentioned Bailly light-house, is productive of

130 COUNTY OF DUBLIK.

numerous enchanting landscapes, if the term can be
properly applied to prospects which the sea so magnifi-
cently enhances. The shore affords in several places
great facility for bathing, constant water, and a fine
gravelly beach, of easy descent and retired from pub-
lic view ; while in others it is indented with creeks,
or worn into gloomy caverns, in which seals and por-
poises may be often seen rolling their unwieldy
bodies.

The parish of Howth comprises 2669a. 2r. 3p.
in the one denomination of land, and a population of
1607 persons, of which, the Gttholics are 1400. It
has, with that of Killbarrock, compounded for its
tithes to the prebendary at £231. The union, be-
sides the chapelry of Killbarrock, comprises the
curacy of Beldoyle, all being so annexed to the pre-
bend of Howth in St. Patrick's cathedral. The fol-
lowing has been

THE SUCCESSION OF THE PREBENDARIES,

(^Atfar ai a$C€rtained,y

1290. John de St. Amaro.
1380. William Beverley.
1509. John Fitz Simon.
1522. Thomas D'Arcy.
1529. William Power.
1546. Simon Geoffry.
1555. John Dongan.
1595. Robert Conway.
1615. Christopher Hewetson.
1636. Thomas Uoyd.
1660. WilUam Sheridan.
1671. Patrick Grattan.

1704. Robert Gratten.
1723. Samuel Webber.
1742. John Jackson.
1750. Arthur Mahon.
1753. John WaUs.
1755. John Wynne.
1771. WiUiam Blachford.

1773. Moses Roquier.

1774. Thomas Stewart.
1789. Walter Blake Kirwan.
1800. John Lewis.

1833. Arthur Irwine.

The Roman Catholic union of Howth comprises.

HOWTH. 131

besides the parishes of Beldoyle and Killbarroek,
those also of Portmamock, St. Doulogh's, and Kin-
salj. The manor includes the townlands of Howth
and Ratheny. Lord Howth is proprietor of the fee.
Rent on the hill is about £^ per acre, and in the more
fertile parts £3 is paid, while cabins, without land, are
let for £2 per annum. The number of labourers in
this parish is said to be about 100, half of whom are
constantly employed, and the other half occasionally.
Those engaged in the fisheries, and working for them,
are from eighty to ninety persons.

The hill of Howth is celebrated in the most ancient aonala of
Ireland, as the place of settlement of Partholanus and his colony,
and the scene of their total destruction by a plague, in A. M. 2256.

At the earliest period of the Christian era, when IreUnd was
the sanctuary and refuge of those who fled the Roman power,
Howth' was the residence of the celebrated Crimthan, who, ac-
cording to the Irish annals, and in thorough consistence with the
pelican sympathy which ever led IreUnd to shed her blood for
those who sought shelter in her bosom, crossed the seas to stay
the march of Roman oppression, and vindicate the rights of the
expatriated wanderers. The chronicles of this country deservedly
extol his achievements, and particularly relate, what may be con-
sidered of some interest as regards the fine arts at the time, that,
on his return from one of these chivalrous assertions of British
liberty, he brought back with him a car inlaid with gold, a suit of
armour studded with gems, a cloak with golden clasps, a sword
richly carved, a shield with silver bullae, a remarkable lance, a ca-
tapulta of resistless power, two noble hounds coupled with a silver
chain, and a great variety of other precious articles.

In the fourth century Howth is celebrated as one of the mili-
tary stations of Fin Mac Goule and his band.

In 819 the Danes devastated Howth.

In 1012 CMelaghlin made an expedition against the Danes,
lUdd devastated this district. In 1038 Sitric, the converted Dane,

132 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

bestowed a considerable part of the lands hereabouts on his eccle^
siastical foundations, and is even said to have built the church
here. In 1086, Murtogh O'Brien and his army of Munster ob-
tained a victory here over the people of Leinster.

At the time of the English invasion, Sir Armoricus Tristram
was one of the most active adventurers. He and Sir John de
Courcy, at the head of a chosen band, landed at Howth, and
there encountering the inhabitants, who appeared to be a linger-
ing horde of Danes, defeated them in a signal engagement at the
bridge of Evora, the mountain stream that falls into the sea at
the north side of Howth, opposite " Ireland's Eye." Sir Armori-
cus lost seven relatives on this occasion, but acquired the lordship
of Howth, and the designation of St. Lawrence in honour of the
day of the battle. The sword, with which he fought, is still tri-
umphantly exhibited amongst the relics at the castle of his de-
scendants. According to tradition de Courcy and St. Lawrence
made a compact in the church of Rouen, in Normandy, to unite
their fortunes in arms, and abide its dangers and rewards. A pa-
tron used to be annually held on the hill, until very recently, on
St. Lawrence's day, to commemorate this victory, and, in clearing
out the foundation for the new parish church, erected here a
few years ago, more striking reminiscences of that day's fight were
discovered in the quantity of bones scattered over an extensive
space. An antique anvil, bridle, bits, and fragments of horse ar-
mour were also found in this " ceramicus.^* Further particulars
of Sir Armoricus will be found in the memoir of << the Family of
St. Lawrence."

Sir Nicholas St. Lawrence, the eldest son of Sir Armoricus,
on his death succeeded to the inheritance of Howth, which he
left to his eldest son, Armoricus, the third Baron.

In 1200 the prebend of Howth was one of the thirteen €anon-
ries incorporated by Archbishop Comyn.

In 1216 King John made a grant, or rather confirmed the
possessions of Armoricus de St. Lawrence, in the land of Howth,
with the appurtenances, as fiilly as his father, Nicholas, had there-
tofore possessed the same, together with all rights of churches,
customs, mills, waters, &c. Soon after which this Armoricus
granted twenty- five acres of land, in his lordship, to the vicar of

HpWTH. 133

Howth, described as next the river that flows into the sea, be-
tween the church and the old castle towards the east, and ex-
tending " a flo aqua^* in length, to divisions made between
it and the lord's own land towards the west. This endowment
is, however, by some attributed to Armoricus, the ninth Baron
of Howth.

For a notice in 1227, see << the Memoirs of the Archbishops of
Dubhn."

In 1235 the original prebendal church was removed from Ire-
land's Eye to the mainland, by Archbishop Luke, and a new one,
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, was built upon the rector's glebe.
This is the edifice whose ruins, as before-mentioned, still conse-
crate the village.

In 1306 the prebend of Howth was valued at £23 89. M.

In 1313 Primate Jorse, in the well-known contest concerning
the precedency of the sees of Armagh and Dubhn, came secretly
to Howth, and proceeded in the night as far as Grace Dieu, car-
rying his crozier erect, as an assertion of his claimt He was,
however, met by some of the family of the Archbishop of Dublin,
at the latter place, and compelled to quit the province.

In 1348 the remarkable pestilence, that devastated Ireland,
first broke out at Howth and Dalkey. It almost destroyed and laid
waste the cities of Dublin and Drogheda, insomuch that in Dub-
lin alone, from the beginning of August to Christmas, 14,000
persons perished.

In 1375 the king directed that proclamation should be made
within the lordship of Howth, that none should cross sea from Ire-
land, merchants excepted, without license from the crown.*

In 1380 WOliam Beverly was prebendary of Howth, and
likewise a canon of Westminster. In 1390 Sir John de Stanley
landed at Howth, as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for the third
time. In 1410 the king assigned the tithes of the church of
Howth to maintain the household of Thomas le Butler, prior of
St. John of Jerusalem, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and in 14'27
Chief Baron Cornwalsh sailed hence to advise the king on the
state of Ireland, being allowed 6«. 8cf. per day for his expenses

* Rot. in Cane. Hib.

134 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

while employed on thit misbion. In the same year Lord de Grey
landed here as Lord Lieatenant of Ireland.

In 1446 Lord Howth was sued by the crown for a herring-
swyne twelve feet long, which had been cast ashore here. His
lordship, however, pleaded that his ancestors, from time imme-
morial, were lords of the manor and lordship of Howth, and as
such seised of all '< porpoises, grapes and herringswyne," thrown
ashore there, &c. On which plea he obtained judgment against
the crown.

In 1449 Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, father of Edward
IV. landed at Howth, as Lord Lieutenant. His government of
Ireland Was a short but cheering interval. During the civil wars
of York and Lancaster, Kildare for the white, and Ormond for
the red rose, had organized all the passions and energies of the
PalOi Duke Richard, however, by equally favouring and honour-
ing every rank of the people, had acquired the general love of all,
and wholly conciliated a nation, whom he was sent to subdue. So
perfectly was this feeling established, that when, on his return to
England, he was betrayed and defeated at Blore Heath, and ul-
timately driven an exile into the country he had so lately go-
verned, he was received there, not as a fugitive, but with every
demonstration of the warmest affection. Gentlemen and follow-
ers of houses, before then pitted in deadliest enmity, became his
united adherents, clung together in his service, deserted their
possessions to the reaction of Irish hostility, devoted their whole
hopes to the unfortunate Prince, and, when he fell at Wakefield,
perished promiscuously around him.

In 1451 Sir Christopher, the fourteenth Baron of Howth, was
empowered, by Act of Parliament, to search for a mine within this
lordship, as well for tin as for lead ore, and to receive the profits
thereof to his own use, during the term of three years, at 68. 8rf.
per annum, if it should be found. For a notice in 1468, see at
" Tipperkevin."

Sir Nicholas St. Lawrence, the sixteenth Lord of Howth^ was
devoted to the interests of the house of Lancaster, and, during
the frenzy that shook Ireland from its propriety and allegiance in
the cause of Lambert Simnel, was one of those who most faithfully
defended King Henry's title and interest. When the rebellion,

HOWTH. 135

raised on that accoant> was quelled, the kiDg presented to this
lord, as a tribute for his fidelity and senricesy 300 pieces of gold,
and by charter, dated in 1489, confirmed to him the lands of
Howth, kc^ he having in the preceding year, notwithstanding his
well experienced attachment to the crown, thought it prudent to
take the oath of allegiance, and do his homage before Sir Richard
Edgecombe, in the great chamber at St. Thomas's Court, Dublin.
Dying in 1526, he was buried with his ancestors in the abbey
here.

In 1522 Thomas D'Arcy, prebendary of Howth, had a grant
by letters patent, of the office of clerk or keeper of the Rolls in
Chancery, with a fee of £20 of silver, per annum, payable out of
the king's manor of Esker, over and above the accustomed profits
of that employment;* and in 1528, was presented to the Dean-
ery of St. Patrick's.

At the hosting of 1532 Lord Howth was summoned to do
military service for his manors of Howth and Artane, and in the
same year Archbishop Allen presented Nicholas Carney, A. M.,
to the perpetual vicarage hereof.

In 1534. << the silken lord," in the celebrated Geraldine re-
bellion, planted his artillery on this promontory, and from its
commanding height cannonaded the vessels that were sent with
English forces to reduce him. For a notice in 1538, see at ** Kill-
barrock."

In 1539 the prebend of Howth was re-valued at £24 6i. lOrf.
and at the dissolution its monastery was found seised of a small
portion of land here, which thereupon vested in the crown. For
a notice of this locality in 1541, see at ** Killbarrock."

In 1545 the Earl of Lennox, being driven from Scotland, fled
to King Henry the Eighth, and craving succour, was recommend-
ed by him to the Earl of Ormond, who, with the object of rein-
stating him in his fortunes, mustered on Oxmantown Green "600
gallowglasses, 400 kerns, 60 horsemen, and 440 shot ;" with this
force, to which the Lord Deputy added 1500 soldiers, he marched
to Skerries, in Fingal, where he took shipping, and sailing north-
ward was joined by "the Earl of the Out-isles." Their scheme

• Lit Pat 14 Hen. Vin.

136 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

being rendered abortive by contrary winds and the unskilfulness of
mariners, Ormond and Lennox landed their men at Carrickfergus,
but the Lord of the Out-isles remained on board, encountered a
storm, and was driven upon Howth, where he expired, being
overcome by the fatigues of this expedition. His body was con-
veyed to Dublin, and interred in St. Patrick's Cathedral, where
Mason, the learned historian of that church, says the following in-
scription had been carved upon his monument :— *

" Vique manuque me4 patriae dum redditur exul,
£xul in extern^ cogor et ipse mori.**

A very interesting letter was written previous to this expedition
by the Earl of Ormond, while at Skerries, to Lord Russel. See
at <♦ Skerries."

In 1547 the prebend of Howth was found on inquisition to
comprise twenty acres of demesne lands, and tithes over the town-
lands of Correstown, Howth, Balkyll and Sutton, and the tithe
fishing thereof, to the amount of £24 annually, the farmer of the
tithes being bound to repair the chancel, and the altarages being
assigned for the curate's support.

In 1549 Edward, the eighteenth Lord of Howth, died, and
was buried in St. Mary's Abbey here. In 1552 Sir James Croft,
on his removal from the lord lieutenancy of Ireland, embarked
here for England ; and in 1564 Christopher, the twentieth Lord
of Howth, erected the present castellated mansion.

About the year 1575 occurred the memorable incident, which
connects the name of Grace O'Mailley (better known as Grana
weal) with this place. Returning from her visit to Queen Eliza-
beth, she landed at Howth, and proceeded to the castle, but, it
being the hour of dinner time, the gates were closed. Indignant
at what she considered a dereliction of Irish hospitality, she seized
the young heir of St. Lawrence, then playing on the shore, carried
him on shipboard, and sailed with him, a prisoner, to her own castle,
in the county of Mayo. Nor was he restored, until his father en-
tered into an express stipulation that his gates should never again
be shut at dinner hour. A painting in one of the castle chambers
is supposed to represent this event.

In 1580 Lord Grey landed at Howth, as Lord Lieutenant of

HOWTH. 137

Ireland. In 1589 Christopher, the twentieth Lord of Howth,
died and was buried here. For a notice in 1593, see the memoir
of << the Family of St. Lawrence." In the same year (3 1st of
July) Sir William Ruasel, youngest son of the Earl of Bedford,
landed here as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whereupon the Lord
of Howth claimed him and his suite for that evening as his guests.
Sir William was met the next day, on his entrance into Dublin, by
the council, the captains of the garrison, and the mayor with five
hundred horse, and conducted with acclamation to the castle ; he
refused, however, to accept the sword until he should receive, un-
der the hands of the council, a full account of the state and con-
dition of the kingdom, which being done, he was, on the 11th of
August, sworn in with great acclamation.* In 1599 Lord Mount-
joy, as Lord Deputy, and Sir George Carew, as Lord President
of Munster, landed here, and spent the night of their arrival in the
Castle of Howth, at which time this place was accounted amongst
** the walled and good towns" of the county. For a notice in 1 602,
see " Dalkey."

In 1606 Sir Nicholas, the twenty-first Lord, died and was
buried here. Sundry inquisitions, of record in the Court of
Chancery, state the Bealing family seised in fee about this time
of seven messuages and six acres here, which they held of Lord
Howth, as of the manor of Howth, while the Lord's own posses-
sions are stated as three hundred and fifty acres, which he held of
the king in capite by knight service.

In 1614 the lord deputy. Sir Arthur Chichester, landed here,
and was received by the lords justices, the lord mayor, &c., who
attended him into Dublin with great rejoicing.

In 1615, on the regal visitation, this prebend was valued at
£100, Martin Cod being then the officiating curate.

In 1619, Christopher, Lord Howth, died seised (as found by
inquisition) of the manor and townland of Howth containing three
hundred acres, the island of Howth called the Bodden, fifty acres,
eighty-five acres and a water mill in Whitestown, fourteen acres
in Balscadden, thirty-three acres in Lispobble, forty-nine acres in
Fieldstown, one hundred acres in Maync, Kiltaghtown, and Lough-

• Wiffen's House of Russel, vol. ii. p. 15.

138 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

bran, &c. The document adds, that Howth and the island were
held from the king by fealty and two pair of gloves yearly on the
feast of St. Michael ; the townland of Lispobble, &c., from the
Archbishop of Dublin, as of his manor of Swords, by fealty and
suit of court ; the townlands of Whitestown and Balscadden, &c«,
were held from the Earl of Ormond, as of his manor of Rush ;
those of Mayne, Kiltaghtown, and Loughbran, from Peter Barne-
wall, as of his manor of Balrothery, &c.

In 1641, when the Lords of the Pale projected establishing a
navy for the security of the coasts of Ireland, and instituting an
order of naval knights for this purpose, to whom houses were to
be assigned in every province, with suitable equipments for each,
Howth was the station proposed for the province of Leinster.
The charges of the undertaking were to be defrayed out of the
revenues of the impropriate abbeys.

In 1662 the great Duke of Ormond landed here as Lord
lieutenant, as did Lord Truro in 1669 in the same capacity. —
In the latter year, William Sheridan, who had been prebendary
of Howth, was appointed Dean of Down, and subsequently pro-
moted to the sees of Kilmore and Ardagh. At this time also,
James Duke of York obtained a grant of Bealing's freehold, before
mentioned, then stated as containing four acres plantation mea-
sure.

For a notice in 1671, see the memoir of the '< Family of St*
Lawrence."-~In that year, Robert Reading claimed an allowance
of £500 per annum out of the concordata, for six light-houses
built by him, two of which were on Howth. He had also a duty
on foreign ships. In the same year, Patrick Grattan was instituted
to the prebend of Howth, as was Robert Grattan in 1704.

In 1690 King William is said to have slept here, and the room
of the royal slumber b still identified and maintained in the order
of the occasion.

In 1703 Lord Howth purchased from the crown, the outstand-
ing fee called Beah'ng's freehold, forfeited by the attainder of
King James. — About the year 1748, William, the twenty-sixth
baron, bequeathed to the poor of Howth £40, directed £150 to
be expended on his funeral, and appropriated £200 for the erec-
tion of a family monument in the church-yard of Howth, in which

HOWTU. 139

lie was buried. In the time of bit tucccMor, iftiout the year
1754^ A lead-Juiie w« dncovered here, which promised to be
productive. It was situated about midway between the castle
and the old light-house.— In the same year a terrier was taken, de-
fining the extent of the united parishes of Howth and Killbarrock.
In 1789 the celebrated preacher, Waher Blake Kirwan, was
installed prebendary of Howth, which he held until the year 1800,
when Lford Comwallis, then viceroy, presented him to the deanery
of Killalla.

It would not be justifiable to pass unnoticed an individual,
who once ranked preeminent for pulpit eloquence in thb kingdom*
He was born in Galway, about the year 1754, of an ancient
Roman Catholic funily, having been the grand nephew of Doctor
Anthony Blake, titular Bbhop of Ardagh, and afterwards the
Catholic Primate. He was educated among the Jesuits at St.
Omer, whence, at the age of seventeen, he embarked for the
Danish island of St. Croix in the West Indies, under the pro-
tection of his father's cousin -german who had large possessions
there ; but, after enduring for six years a pernicious climate and
a revolting state of society, he returned in disgust to Europe.
On his arrival, he wetit to the university of Louvain, where he
received priest's orders, and was soon after honoured with the
chair of natural and moral philosophy. In 1778 he was appointed
chaplain to the Neapolitan ambassador at the British court, where
he acquired his earliest fame as a preacher.

In 1787 he resolved to conform to the established rdigion,
with the impression, as he is reported to have professed, of there
finding more suitable audiences for his eloquence. He was ac*
cordingly introduced by the Reverend Doctor Hastings, Arch-
deacon of Dublin, to his first Protestant congregation in Peter's
Church, Dublin, where he preached on the 24th of June of that
year. His auditors impatiently filled every part of the building,
in the expectancy of hearing the causes of his change of faith,
but neither then, nor afterwards, did he ever, either in the pulpit
or in his most confidential communications, breathe a syllable
disrespectful to any religious persuasion whatever.

" Although," he says in a letter of the 19th of June, 1787,
two days after reading his recantation, << I have changed the

140 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

sphere of my exertions, they shall still be invariably directed to
the same objects, to improve the human heart, to enlarge and en-
lighten the understandings of men, banish religious prejudice,
and diffuse through society the great blessings of peace, order
and mutual affection." It had been somewhat favourable to the
exposition of his motives if the document closed there, but other
conclusions may be drawn, when, in the same letter, he adds :
<< An unmanly respect to the prejudices of the vulgar and igno*
rant are considerations I have long soared above, they cannot,
they shall not control the operations of a soul like mine ;" and
again, << I freely acknowledge that I should not look upon my-
self as a man, were I insensible to the pleasures arising from an
unblushing and well earned fame, were I insensible to the com-
forts which flow from competence and independence, or that I
did not value the freedom of possessing these indisputable and
unalienable rights of nature, which she has deeply grafted on the
human constitution, and which no divine law ever intended, or
inferior authority can arrogate the power to counteract;" and
lastly, *< I propose soon paying my friends in Galway a short visit,
and taking occasion to assure the public, in a place where I will
have more room than in a small chapel, that a change of system
has not robbed me of the milder affections of the soul," &c. &c

Wherever he preached such multitudes assembled, that it was
found necessary to defend the entrance of the church by guards
or palisadoes. He was presented with addresses and pieces of plate
from every parish in the city and the freedom of various corpora-
tions ; his portrait was painted and engraved by the most eminent
artists; and the collections at his sermons far exceeded any that were
ever known. In 1800, as before-mentioned, he received the Dean-
ery of Killalla, from the gift of Lord Cornwallis, and in 1805, de-
parted this life at Mount Pleasant, near Dublin, and was buried
in the graveyard of St. Nicholas Without. His wife and a family
of two sons and two daughters survived him.

According to the usage of the clergy amongst whom his early
days were passed, and the doctrine and discipline, in conformity
with which his first vows were taken, he preached extempore, and
with an intonation of voice, and eloquence of action, that leave
his published sermons comparatively vapid and cold.

HOWTH. 141

In 1807 the first stone of the pier was htid at Howth, and,
under the direction of the late Mr. Rennie, the works were sub-
sequently completed. The average time of passage between this
(while it continued a packet station) and Holyhead was about se-
ven hours.

In 1812 the Board of First Fruits granted £600 towards build-
ing a church here, while an order of Council of 1814 authorized
the change of site to the present spot. In 1821 King George
the Fourth landed in this harbour on the occasion of his visit to
Ireland.

In 1829, the Mr. Michael Keary, mentioned at Clontarf, be-
queathed £500 for the education of the poor Catholic children
of this town, which has been invested in government funds, and
the interest is so duly applied.

West of the castle on the hill are the ruins of a
very ancient little oratory, which, from the saint to
whom it was dedicated, is known by the name of St.
Fintan's church. It is extremely small, not exceed-
ing twelve feet in length, by about eight in breadth,
and having a small belfry at one end of it over one
pointed arch entrance, while the eastern window fonns
a very small rude cinque foiled arch.

Colgan enumerates twenty-four Irish saints of the
name of Fintan ; but more probably several of his no-
tices referred to the same person honoured in differ-
ent places. One was Abbot of Cluanednech in the
diocese of Leighlin in the sixth century, and had as
his disciple St. Congall, the founder of the noble ab-
bey of Bangor in the county Down. His festival is
kept on the i7th of February. Another, of the fa-
mily of Nial, forsook the world in his youth, and be-
took himself to the monastery of lona, and the disci-
pline of St. Columba, whence, after that saint's death.

142 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

he returned to Ireland, and founded the monastery
called Teach-Munnu, in Kinselagh, in Leinster. He
died in 634, and his festival is kept on the 21st of
October.

Above this little edifice rises Slieve Martin, a co-
nical eminence, nearly in the centre of the peninsula,
and having a large cairn on its summit; while on
Carrick-mor, (i. e. the big rock,) an eminence of less
magnitude just beneath, a signal post has been erected
for communication with the Pigeon House, on the
opposite side of the bay.

From St. Fintan*s, a narrow way leads down the
hill, and meets the main road beyond Sutton. The
tourist must not, however, omit visiting the pagan
altar, or cromlech, before alluded to, which will be
found in a very sequestered situation between this and
the Castle of Howth, feathered around with the fern,
the classical bracken of Scotland.

These cromlechs may be defined as large, flat,
unhewn, ponderous stones, propped in an inclined po-
sition on two, three, or four others, and sometimes
surrounded with a circle, or circles of stones, forming
the outwork of the temple. The channels, or fur-
rows, still traceable on most of the inclined or altar-
stones, make it probable that sacrifices, as of oxen, &c.
might have been offered on them ; but, whatever were
the victims, the altar is itself thoroughly eastern and
primitive. Such an altar Noah " builded unto the
Lord ;" such an altar God himself commanded — " If
thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not
build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon

HOWTH. 143

it, tbon hast polluted it/' King, in his Munimenta
Antiqna, shews, that cromlechs similar to those in
Ireland exist in Syria ; and Armstrong, in his History
of the very ancient People of Minorca, says, that se-
veral are still found there, and commonly called altars
of the Gentiles.

It is the fashion of the day to call the ancient Irish
priesthood — Druids ; but it seems more consonant
with mature inquiry, that, however their tenets might
have assimilated with those of the Druids, as at least
flowing from one source of primeval hierarchy, how-
ever the two religions might from vicinity have blend-
ed together, particularly when the dispersion from
Mona had sent over so many to Ireland as Rowland
mentions ;* yet the name of Druids was never attri-
buted to the ministers of Irish worship by any writers,
prior to the total destruction of that order. All those,
who were nearest to their time, call them Magi ; and,
even when the words draoi^ druidh^ druth, druadh^
occur, as they do in several Irish annalists, the
term seems only used as doubting the wisdom or
learned caste of the individual to whom it is applied,
and not any such rank in heathen priesthood, as that
of the Druids properly so called. Thus Tigemach,
the oldest historian of Northern Europe, records the
death of Morrough O'Carty, Ard-draoi, and chief pro-
fessor of Connaught, in A. D. 1067j when, of course,
Druids were long extinct as a religious fraternity.
It seems most probable, that the name of Druid re-
coiled on Ireland from Britain, and that the adoption

• Mona Antiqua, p. 107.

144 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

was the more freely countenanced, as the Magism of
Ireland was, according to the more received authori-
ties, the stock whence Druidism sprang; for, as Doctor
Campbell expresses it, "the conceptions of British
writers afford a stronger presumption than even the
pretensions of the Irish, that Ireland was not only the
more ancient nation, but that Druidism ....
was more early in Ireland than in Britain, and that
Britain imported it from Ireland."*

That it did not come from Germany, the great
officina gentium^ appears from Caesar, who mentions
the Germans as essentially differing from Gaul in this,
that they have no such thing as Druids ; while the
same imperial author traces it as coming, according to
his knowledge, from Britain into Gaul ; adding, that
those, who wish to be thoroughly initiated in its mys-
teries, mostly go into the former country to be edu-
cated. It is clear the institution was not Celtic, or it
would have equally flourished in Germany and Italy,
and the Roman would not so have wondered at it
when he encountered it in Gaul ; while, on the other
hand, the fact, that those parts of Wales and Gaul,
which lay nearest to Ireland, were, if not the only
countries, at least those most deeply imbued with its
discipline, and that also the various remains, ascribed
to its priesthood, are far more abundant in Ireland,
must strongly corroborate the inference of that country
being the fountain of the institution.

Much of the learning of the Druids perished in

• Campbell's Strictures, p. 67.

HOWTH, 145

the sister country, wbfen the libraries of Bangor and
the Cambrian monasteries were destroyed by the
Saxons and Normans ; while the first Christian mis->
sionaries were equally hostile to their literary remains
in Ireland. It is, here, however, enough to say that
a religion, such as St. Patrick describes, did exist ;
that its priests were called Magi, that the prevalence
of its tenets, discipline, altars, Beltinne and Halloween
rites, is enforced by all the external testimony of arti-
ficial appearances in the country ; that its ceremonies
are deeply legible, after the lapse of centuries, in the
manners of the people ; that the cromlechs, the up^
right pillars, the circular temples of stones, the round
towers of the sacred fire, the holy groves, the vene*
rated fountains, which were dedicated to sun-worship,
and afterwards prudently converted to the service of
Christianity, still remain ; (for, like the Germans, as
described by Tacitus, the ancient Irish thought it
was absurd and unworthy the Author of all being
and space to limit his presence within walls, or his
worship within human architecture;) thatthey had their
everlasting fire, like the perpetual fiame that ascended
on the altar of burnt offerings at Jerusalem; and lastly,
that like the Guebri, described by Doctor Hyde, as
kindling an annual fire, whence the country was sup«
plied, the Magi of Ireland also, on one particular
night displayed the sacred flame on Tara, whence
every hearth of the island should be religiously fed.*

• See D'Alton's £8say on the ancient History, &c, of Ireland, in
Trans. H. L Aet^emy, vol. xvi. Part 1.

146 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

The promontory of Howth must necessarily be
considered of paramount interest in the botany of this
county. To a small extent, its productions may be
classed as follow : — On and about the hill generally
are seen nardus stricta, mat grass ; ilea: aquifolium^
holly ; borage officinalis^ borage ; crithmum mart"
timunii samphire, whose leaves are an excellent pickle
used for sauces, and are by many eaten raw in salads;
meum ffeniculumj fennel ; lepidium hirtum^ hairy
pepperwort ; oxalis dcetosella^ wood sorrel ; agro*
steinma githagOj com cockle ; spergvla arvensis^
com spurrey, which, though here accounted a trou-
blesome Weed, is, in Flanders, Germany, and the
North of Europe, used as fodder, while poultry are
f€|d with its seed; papaver dubium, long smooth-
headed poppy ; teucrium scorodonia^ wood gertnan-
der ; digitdis purpura^ foxglove ; orobanche minora
lesser broom rape ; cakile maritima^ sea-rocket, a
tariety of the geranium molley soft crane's-bill, with
white flowers ; vicia sativa, common vetch ; hyperi^
cum humi/iisum, trailing St. John's wort ; picris
echioideSj bristly ox-tongue; crepis biennis, rough
hawkVbeard ; carduus mariantis, milk thistle ; tana^
cetum vulgare, tansy ; artemisia absinthiumj common
wormwood; senecio viscosics, fetid groundsel; an-^
thetnis cotula, fetid chamomile; achillea ptarmica,
sneeze-wort; euphorbia esigua, dwarf spurge; iris
fwtidissima, with its heavy blue flower, cortimonly
called roast-beef plant, from the circumstance of the
leaves, when bruised, smelling like roasted beef;
jwicus uliginosics, little bulbous rush ; juncus squar*-
rosus^ moss-rash ; juncus acutus, great sharp rush ;

HOWTH. 147

juncus bulbosusj round-fruited rush ; lepidium Smithii^
smooth field pepperwort ; carlina vulgaris, common
carline thistle, flowering in June; scirpus SavU, Savi s
club-rush, flowering in July.

In the watery bogs, valleys, and marshy places,
veronica scutellataf narrcJw-leaved taatsh speedwell ;
scirpus setaceusj bristle-stalked club-rush ; scirpus
paucifloruSy chocolate-headed club-rush; ^cirpt^^wi-
ians^ floating club-rush ; pinguicula vulgaris, com-
mon butterwort ; eleochdris joo/w^m, creeping spike-
rush ; utricularia vulgaris, greater bladderwort ;
eriophorum polystacMon, broad-leaved cotton grass ;
Itfcopus europcBus, giipsy wort; schomus nigricans,
black bog-rush ; melica carulea, purple raelic grass^
a plant of which the inhabitants of some of the west-
em islands make ropes, for fishing nets, as it is found
to bear the water for a long time without rotting ;
it is^ however, rather resorted to as a cheap than a
serviceable article; montia fontana, water blinks;
menyanthes trifoliata, marsh trefoil ; anagallis te-
nella, bog pimpernel ; .drosera rotundifolia, round
leaved sundew, of which Darwin writes : .

' <<Queen of the marsh, imperial Dros'ra treads
Rush fringed banks and moss embroidered beds ;
Redundfint folds of drossy silk surround
Her slender waist and trail upon the ground,
As with sweet grace her snowy neck she bows,
A zone of diamonds trembles round her brows ;
Bright shines the silver halo as she turns,

• And as she steps the living lustre burns."

Agrostis canina, brown bent grass ; polygonum hy-

148 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

dropipeVf water pepper ; hydrocotyle vulgaris^ marsh
pennywort ; narthecium ossifragum^ Lancashire as-
phodel ; peplis portula, water purslane ; tormentiUa
reptansy trailing tormentil, formerly deemed an ex-
cellent substitute for oak-bark in tanning ; comarum
palusfrej marsh cinquefoil, bearing a fruit somewhat
like that of the strawberry ; stachys palustris^ marsh
woundwort ; carex veskaria^ bladder sedge, flower-
ing in June ; rumex maritifnuSj golden dock ; cnicus
paliLstriSj marsh plume thistle ; gnaphalium uligino-
■sunij marsh cudweed ; senecio aquatictiSj marsh rag-
wort ; orchis conopseCy aromatic palmate orchis ; /w-
tera ovala^ common tway blade ; carex dioica^ creeping
sedge, flowering in June ; carex culicaris^ flea sedge;
carex inuricala, greater prickly sedge ; carex vuU
pina^ great sedge, flowering in May ; carex panicu-
lata^ panicled sedge, flowering in July ; carex ovdlis^
oval-spiked sedge, also flowering in July ; carex peri'
dula^ pendulous sedge ; carex cespUosa, turfy sedge,
flowering in June ; carex hirta, hairy sedge ; carex
acuta^ slender-spiked sedge ; apargia taraxabif dan-
delion hawkbit ; epipactis paltcstrisj marsh hellebo^
rine ; carex pallescens^ pale sedge, flowering in July ;
carex fidva^ yellow sedge ; sium latifolium^ broad-
leaved water parsnip, whose roots are deadly poison,
fatal both to men and cattle, it flowers in August ;
poa distansy reflexed sweet grass ; juncus effususy
soft rush; alisina ranunculoidesy lesser water plantain ;
alisma natans, floating water plantain ; sparganum
natans, floating bur-reed ; ophioglossum vulgatuniy
common adder's tongue ; stum inundatumy least water

HOWTH. 149

parsnip, flowering from May to July ; eleocharisflui'
tanSy floating spike rush, flowering in June and July.
On the mountain dry pastures veronica officinale;
common speedwell ; scirpus cespitosus, scaly -stalked
club-rush ; agrostis vulgaris^ fine bent grass ; aira
cristata^ crested hair-grass ; holctis mollis^ creeping
soft grass, one of the most troublesome weeds that in-
fest light, dry soils, pigs, however, are very fond of
its roots ; festuca ovina^ sheep*s fescue grass, of which
Gmelin in his Flora Siberica says, that the Tartars
prefer fixing, during the summer, where this grass is
plentiful, as affording a most wholesome food for all
sorts of cattle, but especially for sheep ; gallium sax-
atile^ smooth heath bedstraw ; epUohium montanum,
smooth-leaved willow herb, the top shoots of which
have a very delicate fragrance, but so transitory, that
before they have been gathered five minutes, it is no
longer perceptible ; poa decumbenSi decumbent
heath grass, so called from its straw being always in«>
dining ; festuca bromoides^ barren fescue grass ;
gentiana campestris^ field gentian ; carliita vulgar
risy common carline thistle. — On banks above the
sea shore, scilla verna^ vernal squill, flowering early in
May; scilla nutans, harebell squill; epiU^ium te-
tragonum, square-stalked willow herb. — On the barr
ren ground, aira prcecox, early hair grass ; aira ca-
ryophylkay silver hair grass ; It/copsis arvensis, small
bngloss ; jasione montanaj common sheep's bit ; vt-
ola luteay yellow pansy ; daucus carota, wild carrot.—-
On the hedges and bushy places, lonicera pericly-
menuniy common honeysuckle ; vicia cracca, tufted

15Q COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

vetch, s&necio sj/lvdtictis, mountain groundsel ; era-
tcegtcs aria, white beam tree, flowering in Jufae, its
wood is said to afford an excellent charcoal for mak-
ing gunpowder. — On the sea shore, fuais plicatus,
matted fucus ; raphanus maritinwSj sea radfsh ; dn-
th^llis vulnerariay kidney vetch; fiicus ciliaius^fu^
cUs aculeatus ; aster tripolium, sea starwort ; rotbolUa
i?icarvata, sea hard grass, flowering about^ the end of
August, and so named by the younger Linnaeus in com-
pliment toProfessorRotboU of Copenhagen ; corrigeola
littoraliSi sand strapwort, a very rare j^Iant, flowering
in August; triticum Ibliaceum, dwarf sea wheat grass;
silene maritimafSei campion, flowering from June to
August. — On the commons, chenopodium murale,
nettle-leaved goosefoot ; licken cornuci^ioidesj radi-
ated lichen ; bailota nigral common horehound;

In the com fields, lolium temulentum, bearded
darnel, an' herb of an intoxicating quality, whether ta-
ken tn bread or drink ; even swine have been known
to be seized with a temporary blindness and drunk-
enness, when it was mixed with their food; of this
plant Vitgil makes mentiofn in his first Greorgic,

" Interque nitentia culta
Infelix lolium et steriles dominantur avense."

Cynoglossum officinale, common hound's tongue;
lamium incisum, cut leaved dead nettle; ervum
hirsutum, hairy tare ; centaurea a/anus, blue bottle ;
papaver somniferum, white poppy; fedia oKtariaf
lamb's lettuce, flowering from April to June.— On
the sandy banks, phleum pratense, common cat's tail
grass, affording an early spring herbage ; phleum are-

UOWTH. 151

nariumjses, cat's tail grass ; Parnassia palt4stris^ grass
of Parnassus ; erodium cicutarium^ hemlock stork's
bill-^-T-In the boggy places, eriophorum angustifoliumi

common cotton grass ; hypnum scorpioides About

the old ahhey parieta7'iaqfficinaliSt wall pellitory.

On the rocks and in their fissures, airaflejmosai
wavy mountain hair grass ; statice armeria, sea pink ;
cotyledon umbilicm^ navel wort j sedum acrcy wall
pepper, a brilliant little flower, conspicuous enough
about midsummer and for some time afterwards, on
walls, roofs, and dry, barren, or sandy ground, which
it clothes, as it were, with a cloth of gold, in defiance
of the drought and the most scorching sun ; geranium
sangmneunij bloody crane's bill ; lichen pilularis, pill
lichen ; lichen perelluSj crab's eye lichen ; lichen conr
centricttSi concentric lichen; lichen saaatilis, grey,
stone lichen; lichencalicaris, channelled lichen ; lichen
capirattiSf wrinkled sulphur lichen ; crithmum mari-
timumy the samphire immortalized by Shakspeare, .

" Half way down
Hangs one that gathers samphire — dreadful trade !"

In the mo'ist heaths and Aelds, Jtmcus tdiginostcsy
little bulbous rush; pediciclaris pcUustrisy tall red
rattle; careo' recurva, heath sedge; slum inundch
turn, least water parsnip; rafnalina scopularum.
— In the woods, heaths, and turfy ground, vacci-
mum myrtittuSi bilberry, part of the autumn food
of the grouse, bilberries are also sometimes made into
tarts and jellies ; calluna tmlgarisy common ling ;
erica dnerea^ fine leaved heath ; steUaria graminea,
lesser stitchwort ; tormentiUa officinaliSj common tor-

15^ COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

inentil ; polygala vulgaris^ milk wort ; orobus tubero^
sus, heath pea ; stellar ia kolostea, greater stich wort j
hypericum ptUchruniy upright St. John's wort ; soli*
dago virgaurea, golden rod ; carex lunervisj green
ribbed sedge ; carex prcecox^ vernal sedge, flowering
in May ; lycopodium selaginoides^ prickly club moss.

In the meadows, pedicularis sylvatica, dwarf red
rattle; lathyrus pratensis^ yellow meadow vetchling}
apargia autumnalisy autumnal hawkbit. — In the
isandy pastures, ornithoptis perpusillus, bird's foot;
erigon acre^ blue flea bane ; poa distans, reflexed
meadow grass; auraflexuosa^ waved mountain hair
grass. — On the high grounds, gnaphalium syhati^
vunti Highland cudweed, flowering in September.—
In the moist woods, carex remota^ remote sedge, flow-
ering in July ; carex pilulifera, round-headed sedge^
flowering early ; carex panicea, pink leaved sedge.

About Sutton side of the hill, viola tricolor, pansy
violet ; viola lutea, yellow pansy ; narthesium ossijra^
gum, Lancashire asphodel; ervum hirsutum, hairy
tare, a pernicious intruder on fields of com ; senecio
viscosusy fetid groundsel; sagina apetala, small-fin-
gered pearl wort ; melampyrum pratense, yellow cow
wheat, of which Linnaeus says, that where it abounds
the yellowest and best butter is made; lysimachia
nemorumy yellow pimpernel; ononis arvensisy rest
harrow, and a variety with white flowers ; euphorbia
Portlandiea, Portland spurge ; anagallis tenella, bog
pimpernel ; atriplex portulacoidesy shrubby orache,
flowering late in the summer; airiplex laciniatay
flowering early in August ; atriplex littoralist grass-

HOWTH. 153

leaved sea orache ; sedum Anglicum^ Euglish stone
crop; trifolium scabrumy rough trefoil; asplenium
marinumf sea spleenwort. Even the great Indian
cress, tropcBolum majus^ has been found in great
luxuriance, growing on the open shore at this side.
Its electric properties are noticed by Darwin —

<< Round her fair form the electric lustre plays.
And cold she moves amid the ambient blace.''

Valeriana locusta; cerastium tetandrum, four cleft
mouse ear chickweed ; and a species of the papaver
^omniferum, white poppy with purple flowers.

On the southern beach, statice limonium, sea la-
vender; beta maritimaj sea beet, flowering in Au-
gust, and accounted a good substitute for spinage in
winter and spring months ; crambe maritimum^ sea
kale ; erodium maritimum^ sea stork's bill ; triticum
junceumy rushy wheat grass, a plant of great impor-
tance in districts subject to inundations of the sea,
which nature seems to have designed it, like the aruri'
do arenariaj to retard ; festttca elatior^ great fescue
grass; limbarda crithmoides^ golden samphire, flower-
ing in August and September.— On the south side
of the hill a variety of lotus corniculatuSj common
l)ird*s foot trefoil with hairy leaves ; artemisia mari-
timay sea wormwood; inula crithmoides^ samphire-
leaved flea bane ; samolus valerandh water pimpernel ;
statice spathulataj upright spiked sea lavender. — On
the north-east side, growing out of a rocky mountain, is
found pyrtis aria^ white beam tree ; — and on the east
viola hirta, hairy violet ; sium repensj creeping water
parsnip ; and orchis viridis, frog orchis.

154 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

Of the geology and mineralogy of' this hill Dr.
Stephens says — " In the peninsula of Howth» which
forms the extremity of the northern side of Dublin bay^
several different kinds of rock, and some valuable pro-
ductions are to be found. In following the course of
the shore on the south side of the hill, the first stone
observable in its place is secondary limestone in beds.
Further on, and immediately incumbent on the lime-
stone, is siderocalcite in considerable quantity, its
situation corresponding with that of the limestone,
and still further, but not visibly connected with these^
grit or arenaceous quartz, (of which the abrupt rocks
above Lord Howth*s demesne, on the north-west side
of the hill, seem also to consist,) with an appearance
of irregular stratification in some places. This stone
is soon succeeded by argillite, which continues as far
as the martello tower, and the grit again appears
from thence to the cove under Mr. Hannington's
house.

*^ The cliffs at the place last mentioned consist of
strata of a sort of slaty clay, or shale intermixed with beds
of the same sort of grit as that of which the greater part
of the hill is composed. Some of the clay strata are
penetrated by the siliceous matter, which gives them
a greater degree of hardness than the others, and a
most interesting spectacle is presented by this assem-
blage of beds, which vary in thickness from an inch
to a foot. These are in general nearly vertical, in
one place they diverge upwards, the opening being
filled up by bending strata ; the beds are of various
shades of colour from brick red to ash grey, and are

HOWTH, f55

crossed by vems 6f quaitz fmd of chlorite, whick 8lib-
stances are gefterally intermixed,

" The different degrees of hardness possessed by
the strata now described, ai^tbe cause of their pre-
senting a very singular appearance, the softeif^ parts
being tmshed aw^y to a considerable depth by the
action of the atmosphere and the dashing^ of the
waves, while the harder are preserved, and form:^
kind of stripes in relief. At the base of the cdiff
there is a prolongation of the harder strata running
Out into the Bed, and tO th^ east of this place the bill
on the shore consists of a soft kind of slate, which is
entirely smoothed down to a slope/** i

"From the south-western side of Howth grey ore
of manganese and brown iron stone have been ob-
tained in considerable quantity, and a variety of the
earthy black cobalt we of Werner has been found
there,' in the fbrm of a coating, of a rich blue colour,
which incrusts the fissures of a rock of slate clay, ap-
proaching to whetslate. In this substance Mr. Tennant
has ascertained the presence of the oxides of cobalt
and of manganese, and the discovery of it at Howth
is of importance, as it indicates the probability of the
existence of other more valuable ores of cobalt in that
neighbourhood/'f

A huge bed of porphyritic greenstone is also visi-
ble on the southern side, running from the water edge
into the heart of the hill, and separating at some dis-
tance into two lesser veins, which gradually diverge

* 8tepiieiui*8 Minendogy, p. 40, &c ^ 1^^.42.

166 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

from each other ; while, in two caves on the north-
west shore, lapides stalactitii, stony icicles or drop
stones, have been found. It is likewise supposed to
contain coal, and Irish diamonds have been found in
working its quarries.

Doctor Rutty classes two petrifying springs here,
one issuing from under the battlements of the church-
yard, and the other situated in a bay on the east side
of the hill, at a place where is, perhaps, the most com-
modious bathing-place in the neighbourhood of Dub-
lin. Near it is the singular precipice called Puck's
Rock.

In the new harbour hundreds of the starfish may
be seen expanding themselves in all the splendour of
prismatic light A species of the mustella marina is
also seen hereabouts sometimes, the astacus rtKOrimis^
lobster, abundantly, and the cancer marinus^ sea crab,
less frequently. It may be lastly remarked, in refe-
rence to this locality, that the road to it from the city
has been the subject of distinct legislation in the acts
56 Geo. 3, c. Ixxi, (local) ; 4 Geo. 4, c. 74; 6 Geo. 4,
c. 100; 7 Geo. 4, c. 76 ; and 9 Geo. 4, c. 75.

Thb Family of St. Lawrence.

It has already been mentioned, in deference to very ancient
tradition, that this ennobled surname in Ireland originated in the
fortuitous circumstance of Sir Armoricus, who first appears t6
have acquired it, having obtained the victory that assured the pa-
trimony of his descendants on St. Lawrence's day. It must, how-
ever, be remarked, that the most remote annals of France abound
with records of families of" St. Laurent," and "St. Laurens," and
that, as if some scions of these houses had passed into EnglandVith

THE FAMILY OP ST. LAWRENCE. 157

the Conqueror, or soon after, Robert de St. Lawrence and Osbert
de St. Lawrence are found early in the twelfth century proprietors
of lands in Hampshire, which descended to their heirs male.

That the name rather originated in Normandy, and was inhe-
rited by Sir Armoricus, would seem in a certain degree supported
by the equally accredited tradition, that it was in the Church of
Rouen this warrior and de Courcy became sworn companions in
arms. There they " solemnly vowed,'* says Hanmer, *< to serve
together, to live and die together, and equally to divide between
them what they won by the sword, or should be given them in re-
gard of their service. Thus they continued in France, Anjou,
Normandy, and England, and, when Sir John de Courcy was joined
in commission with William de Burgo, Fitz Adelm, and others. Sir
Armoricus de St. Lawrence accompanied him into Ireland, where
de Courcy received a grant of the king by patent for him and his
heirs or assigns after him to enjoy in that land all that he could
conquer with the sword, reserving to the king homage and fealty.
They landed at Howth, and there fought a cruel fight by the side
of a bridge, when Sir John de Courcy being sickly, tarried aboard
the ship. Sir Armoricus, being chieftain and general of the
field by land, behaved himself most worthily ; many were slain on
both sides, but Sir Armoricus got the victory, with the loss of seven
of his own blood, sons, uncles, and nephews ; whereupon, for hid
singular valour and good service there performed, that lordship
was allotted unto him for his part of the conquest, with other
things which Sir John de Courcy gave him. Immediately Sir
John, Sir Armoricus, and Sir Roger le Poer, (who afterwards
married the niece of Sir Armoricus), so well appointed as then
contented them, directed their course towards the north, thd
principal cause that moved them (besides their valour) was the
hard government of William Fitz Adelm, Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland."* The same historian gives a very animated account of
the achievements of these comrade warriors in Ulster. In one en«
gagement " Sir Armoricus, sore wounded, was laid under a hedge
where he left much blood, and was carried away between four men ;

• Hanmer*8 Chonicle of Ireland.

1 58 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

bis wounds were so many and so dangerous^ that no physician orsur*"
geon could promise life the space of nine days> yet in the end he
recovered. Next unto him was his son, Sir Nicholas -St. Lawrence,
a most valiant knight, so sore wounded in nine several places that he
was once left for dead, but at length recovered, to the great comfort
of his friends-" About the year 1189 the gallant father perished
under circumstances well suited to the chivalry of his life. De
Courc/s settlements in Ulster having been threatened by Cathal
O'Conor, Sir Armoricus marched with a little body of two hun-
dred foot and thirty cavalry into Connaught, for the purpose of
causing a diversion in his favour. Cathal was, however, informed
of their motions, and, resolving to intercept tbem^ the brave knight
soon found they had incautiously fallen into an ambush^ where a
vastly superior force lay ready to destroy them* To contend o^
fered no hope of success, to surrender was dishonourable and dan-
gerous. In this desperate emergency the love of life so far pre*
vailed upon the cavalry, that they resolved to trust to the fleetness
of their horses before they were entirely surrounded, and leave
their companions to their fate, but the infantry, heaijng of this
intention, with the broths of Armoricus at their head, gathered
round their companions, reproached them with their ignoble pur-
pose, reminded them of the many toils and dangers in which
they had supported each other, the friendships and affinities
they had mutually formed, the attachment and . fidelity they
had experienced from each, other, and finally conjured them by
every tender and effective motive not to disgrace their former
conduct, nor abandon their fellow soldiers and their brethren to
the fury of a barbarous and revengeful enemy. The heroic spirit
was restored. Sir Armoricus « hghted, kneeled upon his knees^
kissed the cross of his sword, and ran his horse through, saying,
thou shalt never serve against me that so worthily hast served with
me. The like did all the rest." Two, the youngest of this body
were ordered to retire to a neighbouring eminence, there to view the
engagement, and bear a faithful report to de Courcy of the conduct
of his friends in this their last hour of desperate encounter. " Xi
was a bloody day, when all at the one side and 1,000 of the other
side fell to the ground." Cathal founded the fine Abbey of Knock-
moy, in the county Galway, on the field of action, a monument

THE FAMILY OP ST. LAWKBNCE. 159

even more commemoratiye of tbe romantic valonr of his enemie^
than of his own ^^ory.

Sir Armoricus had issue by the sister of de Courcy, three sons,
the two younger of whom were slain on Good Friday, 1208, in assist*
kig their said uncle against Lacy's men, who fell upon them <when
unarmed in the churchyard of Downpatrick. Sir Nicholas, the eld*
est 3on, was sent to England on his ftither's death, to inform the
king of the situation of affairs, whence returning to Ireland he was
obliged to content himself with the lands of Howth, and to suffer
the conquests of his rehitives in Ulster to be appropriated to mo-
nasteries and abbies. In the archives of Lord Howth is a deed,
whereby this Sir Nicholas confirmed to his son Almaric allilowth
with its appurtenances. This deed is witnessed by John Comyn
Archbishop of Dublin, John db Courcy, Hugh Tyrrel, Robert
Tyrrel, William Petit, Geoffrey de Constantino, Adam de Here-
ford, Richard de Hereford, Geoffrey de Nugent, Adam de Phepoe,
Richard Talbot, Robert de Nugent, Andrew de Courtyn, Ridiard
de Castelio, Robert de Cornwabh, &c.

In reference to the Norman stock it may be here observed,
that in 1 191 Sir Robert St. Lawrence Was signalized by Richard
Coeur de Lion, for his bravery in scaling the walls of Acre, while
in 12S4 Simon de St. Lawtence was a considerable benefactor to
the Priory «*du Mont aux Malades" in Rouen. On the other
hand, however, it must be noticed that various records are ex^
tant of this century, relative to the members of the Tristram fa-
mily, in Wiltshire, Berkshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Yorkshire.
About the year 1317 the Lord Lieutenant, for some most ur-
gent reasons touching the king, granted the wardship and mar-
tiage of Nicholas, son and heir of Adam Lord of Howth, to John
Plunkett of Bewley, in the county of Louth, whose daughter Alicia
this Nicholas afterwards married.* He became the twelfth baron,
and is mentioned by MarlebuVgh as a nobleman ** of singular ho'-
hesty.** In 1969 he witnessed a grant of the lands of Rowlagh
to the Priory of St. John the Baptist. In 1373 he was summoned
to a great council, and also sat in the parliament of 1375. In

• Roll in Ch. Rememb. Qffic.

1 60 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

1376 he was one of the members for this county, in the remark^
able parliament which Edward the Third assembled on summons
at Westminster, and in 1381 was appointed one of the guardians
of the peace of this county.

In 1380 Peter de Howth, who had married Matilda, daughter
and co-^heiress of Sir Thomas de Verdon, and for whose lands he
then did homage and swore fealty to the king, was by patent or-
dered to be put into possession of her inheritance which was held
of the crown by her father in ci^ite.

In 1456 Sir Christopher St. Lawrence, the fourteenth Lord,
was, by act of parliament, appointed a member of the Privy
Council for life, with a fee for his services in that office ; and si*
milar services, it may be observed, were sometimes considered of
such importance and trust, that in 1547 Fulco de la Freyn6 on
« like commission had an annuity granted to him of forty pounds,
an enormous sum in those days.

Sir Robert St. Lawrence, the fifteenth Baron of Howth, was
made Chancellor of the green wax of the Exchequer by patent,
ita 1467. In 1474 he was one of << the thirteen of the most no-
ble and worthy persons within the four shires,'' composing th^
fraternity or brotherhood of St. George, and who assumed that ti»
tie from the circumstance of their assembling annually at Dublin^
to express their zeal for English government* In 1483 he w^
constituted Lord Chancellor of Ireland by Richard the Third.
He married the daughter of the Duke of Somerset, by whom he
had four sons and two daughters. In 1485 William de St. Law«
rence of Stapolin, was seised in fee of the castle and 440 acres in
Laggagh in the County Meath, which he held of the Archbishop
of Dublin, as of his manor of Eniskeen, by the service of a red
rose yearly on the feast of St. John the Baptist.

In 1490 Sir Nicholas (of whom further particulars, more es-
pecially connected with Howth, are detailed in its history,) was pre-
sent in parliament, and again in that of 1493, held by the Lord
Deputy Kildare, previous to the famous battle of Knocktow, on
which latter occasion this nobleman led the bill men, and through*
out the day fought on foot. In 1509 he was made Lord Chan-
cellor of Ireland. In 1535 Thomas Howth of Artane, was se-
cond Justice of the King^s Bench ; and the act of absentees of

THE FAMILY OP ST. LAWRENCE. l6l

1537, contains a special saying of his rights. Notwithstanding
his judicial situation, it would seem that in 1539 this Thomas was
retained as council for the religious houses of Ballybogan, Clo-
nard, Great Conall, and Kilmainham, each of whom granted him
an annuity for such his service.

Sir Christopher, the seventeenth Lord of Howth, was one of
the peers who sat in the parliament of 1541, on which occasion
he signed the following interesting announcement to Henry the
Eighth, of his having been at that parliament procldmed King of
Ireland. *< After our most humble and bounden duties it may
please your most excellent Majesty to be advertised, that your
Highness's parliament began crastino TrinitatUy and the Tuesday
next following, resorted to the same, the Earls of Ormond and
Desmond, and with them the Lord Barry, the Lord Roche, the
Lord Fitz Maurice, and hither came also the Lord Bermingham of
Anery in Connaught, which lords have not been here of many
years before : and the Thursday being Corpus Christ i day, after
a solemn mass of the Holy Ghost, resorted to the parliament
chamber, where the commons presented to us their speaker, one
Sir Thomas Cusack, who made a right good proposition in laud
and praise of your Majesty, most worthily deserved, and also de-
clared what benefit came of obedience to prinpes and observing
of laws ; which, after being answered by your Grace's Chancel-
lor in English, and by the Earlof Ormand deckred in Irish, much
contented the said lords and commons. And the Friday, being
there again assembled, the bill, whereby your Majesty should be
made king of this realm, was read and declared to the said Lords,
who most willingly with all the rest of the lords spiritual and tem-
poral consented to the same, and, after three times read with like
consent, it was sent to the lower house, where it likewise passed
with no less joy and gladness. We send to your Majesty the
names of all such lords, both English and Irish, as were at the
same, and gave their liberal consents thereunto. Your Majesty's
servants, Donogh O'Brien and O'Brien's attorneys appeared at
this parliament, and willingly gave their consents to the same act ;
but for O'Neill, we cannot perceive that ever he will come to
any honest conformity, but judge him to be the only poison and
gall of this your realm. Over this it may please your Majesty to

162 COUHTV OF DUBLIM-

be advertised, that O'Reilly, being here at your Grace's parlia-
ment, and wearing the apparel which your Highness sent unto
him of your Grace's gift, made humble suit unto us to be peti^-
tioners for him unto your Msyesty, that he might have and hold
his lands upon your Highness to him and to his heh*s for ever (
wherefore, your Grace so contented, because he is a man of great
power, we think it convenient that he have the honour of a Vis-
count, and that he be called the Viscount of the Cavan, which is
the chief town in his county."

In 1543, the before-mentioned justice, Thomas Howth, was
one of the Privy Council who signed a recommendation to the
crown, advertising his Majesty, that after the despatch of the Lord
O'Brien, Fitz William, and others, with letters to his Majesty,
^< an Irish captain called Shedagh Mac Namara, bordering upon
the said O'Brien's lands, and Lord of Cloncullen in Thomond,
required us to write tikewise to your Majesty in his behalf who
would also repair to do his duty to your Highness, and to declare
his humble obedience to the same, with further petition that it
might please your Majesty not only to advance him to the honour
of a Baron, by name of Cloncullen, but also, that he may hold
such lands and possessions as he now hath of your Majesty, by
knight's service to him and to his heirs, with place in your parlia-
ment accordingly. And, for that the said Mac Namara is a man,
whose ancestors have in those parts always borne a great sway,
and one that for himself is of honest conformity, whose lands lie
wholly on the furside of the Shannon, we most humbly beseech
your Majesty, to regard him according your princely bounty. * ♦ *
But, what grant soever your Majesty make to any of that sort,
it may please your Highness to will a special proviso and condition
to be inserted in your letters patents, that the same shall not be
meant nor expounded to entitle any of them, or their heirs, to any
land or dominion on this side the said water of the Shannon," &c.

Richard, the nineteenth Lord of Howth, was, in the reign of
Edward the Sixth, sent into the territory of Lecale with 100 horse,
to aid in banishing the Scots ft-om Ulster ; and Christopher, the
twentieth Baron, sat in both the parliaments of Elizabeth, re-
spectively held in 1669 and 1685. He was also, in 1559 and
1663, joined in commissions, particularly alluded to at these years
in the " General History of the County of Dublin," and in 1576

THE FAMILY OP ST. LAWRENCE. 163

was one of those who dgned the remonstrance for asd on behatf of
the Lords of the Pale.

A Neman reminiscenee is here euggested by a nioniiment m
the church of St. Denis at Rouen, commemorating the death in
1560 of «< Monsieur Pierre de St. Laurens, Sienr du VieO manoir,
&C., de Grand pr6, Conseiller en la Cour, kcJ*

Sir Nichoks, the twenty^first Lord of Howth, was knighted in
the memorable year of 1588, and in 1593 brought to the general
hosting on the hiD of Tora, six archers on horsriiack for Howth,
and one for Killester. He was, also, one of the peers who sat in
the parliament of 1595.

In 1599, Sir Christopher St. Lawrence, son to the Lord of
Howth, being in the train of the Ear! of Essex, on the occasiea
of the attack on the castle of Cahir, was sent *< in the begiontng
of the night (May 29), with 800 kern-men to possess an idand
whidi heth from the castle north-east (not more than harquebnss
shot), and to break up two bridges, one of which leadeth from the
island to the main, and the other from the same island to the
castle,'* in which enterprise he completely succeeded. This gal*
famt young gentleman was afterwards brought into much trouble
by his attachment to his unfortunate leader on this occasion, the
Earl of Essex. ** Sir Christopher St. Lawrence," writes Rowland
Whyte to Sir Robert Sydney in October, 1599, «<at an ordinary,
took a cup and drank to the health of my Lord of Essex, and to
the confusion of his enemies. * He was called in question lor it
before the Lord Treasurer, where he did not deny his words, but
would justify them if any enemy of my Lord Essex did find fiiult
with him. I heard my Lord Treasurer did school him, but
nothing else done unto him." ^ * * And, in another letter,
** The Lord of Dunkelly, Sir Christopher St. Lawrence and others,
that are come out of Ireland, were at court, and presented them-
selves before her Mijesty. She used them very graciously, but told
them they had made a scornful journey." * * * Again, ^ Sir John
GaXbert came to Sir Christopher St. Lawrence's dian^er, he being
a-bed, and told hhn that he came to know, i^ because he did not
piedgethehealthof my Lord of Essex the same day he drank to it,
and to the damnation of his enemies, he would stsd) him, for so it was
given out that Sir Christopher should say ; but. Sir Christopher

M 2

164 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

said it was a lie, that he, at that time, drunk to the Earl's health,
and the gentlemen to whom he drank, pledged it, and that what
he said there he would maintain with his sword in his shirt against
any man. Sir John replied, that he pledged it not because he
was aUied to a contrary faction." In a letter of the same corres-
pondence, dated on the last day of the said month, Whyte says,
*< My Lord Mountjoy must go into Ireland, and the Lords upon
Monday were at York House, to confer with my Lord Essex upon
the state of Ireland. They were long with him, he continues
still as he did, and I hear no hope of any speedy liberty. It is
verily believed that her Majesty will have his contempts called to
public question. All captains that have charge in Ireland are
commanded to be gone. Upon Sunday, St. Lawrence was at
council table, where 200 told him that he had used indecent
speeches of him, and took him to be his professed enemy. St.
Lawrence answered that he never offended his honour, that he
knew both how to govern himself and his speech towards him,
that whosoever told him of it was a villun, and that if he would
name him, he would make him deny it. Aye, by G — that he
would ; all this with very great reverence to the place, but pas-
sionate as a soldier moved with the speeches of so great a coun-
sellor. He was commanded to return to his charge ; he replied,
< that he had but a poor command there, that he had great busi-
ness here to stay, which he would acquaint their Lordships withal,
if it pleased them to hear it, that he was willing to quit it to any
other.' I think he hath a company of 100 foot, and some horse.
It was told him he was an Irishman ; he said, * I am sorry that
when I am in England I should be esteemed an Iri^man, and in
Ireland an Englishman. I have spent my blood, engaged and
endangered my life often to do her Majesty service, and do be-
seech to have it so regarded.' "

In 1600 this chivalrous soldier was a colonel of foot at the
fight of Carlingford, with the Lord Deputy Mountjoy, in the
expedition against Tyrone. In July of the following year,
"Mountjoy," as Moryson relates, "having in person reconnoitred
the woods and fastnesses, despatched Sir Christopher St. Law-
rence's regiment to Benburb, where was the ancient residence
of Shane O'Neill, environed with woods. Here a considerable

THE FAMILY OF ST. LAWRENCE. 1G5

Irish force had assembled, and a sharp conflict of three hours'
duration ensued. The battle was fought in view of the Deputy's
camp, whence reinforcements were detached to the En^ish as
occasion required. Tyrone's troops were finally defeated with
the loss of 200 men." He afterwards acquitted himself with sin-
gular bravery at the siege of Kinsale, as is fully testified in the
Pacata Hibernia. Yet, in 1607, he and Lord Delvin were 14)-
prehended as having participated in the rebellion of Tyrone and
Tyrconnel.

In 1634 Nicholas, the twenty-third Lord of Howth, was one
of the peers who took part in the procession of that talented des-
pot. Lord Strafford, to St. Patrick's Cathedral, previous to his
opening the sessions of parliament ; and in 1641 he was amongst
those of the Pale whom the Lords Justices and Privy Coun-
cil of Ireland invited to a conference at the castle, *< on the
estate of the kingdom ; on which occasion, only he, the Earl of
Kildare, and Lord Fitz William attended. In the same year, a
royal writ, dated at Bristol, was directed to him amongst others,
the king's liege subjects, to receive the great seal which had been
sent over by Sir William Welles, Lord Chancellor, and command-
ing that all grants of the old seal, from the first day of the
reign, should be vacated and thereby annulled. Chrbtopher St.
Lawrence of Cruisetown, was one of the confederate Catholics who
assembled at Kilkenny in 1647.

William, the twenty-fourth lord, by his will, bearing date in
May, 1671, ordered his body to be buried in the monument of
his ancestors near his father in Howth church, provided for the
payment of his debts and his daughter's fortunes, and, because his
son Thomas was but of tender years, directed that the guardian-
ship of him and his younger brother should be committed to his
well-beloved Thomas Earl of Ossory, bequeathing to his younger
son Charles, and his heirs, all his estate in England, desiring
that the woods thereon might be sold and converted to his best
advantage, and that, as soon as he was fit for it, he might be either
sent to study the laws of England, or bound unto some merchant.
To his son Thomas he gave the great seal of the family, and, if
his executors found assets sufficient, he desired a new vault and
tomb might be made in the church of Howth for his father's and

166 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

tnoiher't bones, and his and his family's interment, (in regard the
old Tault was well nigh Aill>) in the same place where his fiither and
mother then lay^ &c

Thomas, the twenty-fifth Baron, sat in Kmg's James's parlia<*
ment in 1689, as he did in 1692 in the first after the revolution,
and in 1697 signed the association and declaration in defiance of
the person and goyertiroent of King William, and the succession
as setded by act of parliament. In 1767 Thomas, the twenty-
seventh Lord, was created Viscount St. Lawrence and Earl of
Howth.

Varions other notices of the family are given at the localities
to which they apply^ and may be traced by the general index ; but
Camden's remarks should not be overtooked. ^ By a singciUr
happinessy" he says, ** during so long a series of years not one of
the St. Lawrences of Howth has been convicted of treason, nor
any left in a state of minority ;" the latter daose of the coi^ra-
tulation isi however, contradicted by the pedigree.

Ireland's eye.

This interesting island, lying immediately off
Howth, is supposed to be diat which Ptolemy calls
" Adri deserta," Pliny " Andros,'' and Richard of
Cirencester *' Edria.** It is of a pyramidal form, and
composed chiefly of quartz rock, which, like that in
Howth, exhibits the phenomena of contortiom in
great variety and distinctness ; the quartz being in-
terstratified with schistose rocks of a great variety of
colours, rendering by their contrast the curvatures of
the beds very apparent. It has a high rocky ascent
on the Howth side, precipices called the Stags on the
east, which have proved very dangerous to ships, and
a shelving bank at south and east, which produces
many curious medicinal plants, that in the months of
May and June yield a strong, heavy odour.

IRELANP'S EYB. 167

Rabbits abound on the island, and in reference
to its ornithology, the cross-bill, loMa^ a bird whLeh
destroys pines and fir trees, has been seen upon it
occasionally, as also the columba rupicoloj or rock
pigeon ; while, in more ancient times, the island was
noted for a fine breed of goshawks, that used to build
among its rocks. They were in high esteem among
falconers, being flown at cranes, pheasants, partridges^
and geese, while their habit of preying upon wild
geese is said to have been the origin of their name.

On the south side of the island are the ruins of a
small, but very ancient chapel, founded, according to
tradition, by St. Nessan in the sixth century ; and,
in whose sequestered sanctuary he is said to have past
the evening of a well spent life in abstinence and
prayer. From its gable sprang a round belfry, the
stump of which yet remains.

Many curious legends still survive relative to St.
Nessan's residence in the island, and the temptations,
he endured here, have each " a local habitation and
a name.'' Lanigan, however, thinks, and it is gene-
rally most safe to agree with him, that the history of
Nessan has no foundation in truth. '* There was no
Nessan in that island, but we find that three holy
men, sons of Nessan of the royal bouse of Leinster,
inhabited it in the seventh century, and their me-
mory was revered there on the J 5th of March, at
which day Colgan treats of them. The island, from
them, got the name of Inis-mac-Nessan, or island of
the sons of Nessan, as it appears in a brief of Pope
Alexander the Third to St. Lawrence O'Toole."

168 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

It is said that in this abbey was deposited and
preserved that copy of the Four Gospels preemi-
nently styled, " the Garland of Howth," of which
Archbishop Allen has written, that it was held " in
such esteem and veneration, that good men scarcely
dared to take an oath upon it, for fear of the judg-
ment of God being immediately shown on those who
should favour themselves."

In 1179, Pope Alexander the Third granted to the See of
Dublin (inter alia) this island with its appendages, an endowment
which was further confirmed by John, when Earl of Morton, and
subsequently by Pope Clement the Third to that see. In 1887
it was again assured to the see by King Edward, and also in
1394, by King Richard during his sojourn in Dublin.

In 1548 Sir Christopher St. Lawrence, knight, contested the
right to Ireland's Eye with the Archbishop of Dublin, when the
Lord Chancellor decided that it belonged to the See of Dublin,,
and that Lord Howth never had any seisin thereof, otherwise
than by the license of the Archbishop for the time being, and at
a certain reserved rent. It is accordingly so still held by the Earl
of Howth.

The botany of Ireland's Eye exhibits iris foetidis'
simay the roast-beef plant ; aira prcecoxj early hair-
grass ; crithmum maritimum^ sea samphire ; thalic-
trum minuSy lesser meadow-rue ; spartium scopariumi
common broom ; the rosa villosa^ garden rose in va-
rious parts of its surface ; mesogloia multijidaj which
stains water to a pink colour. — In marshy spots, nuynr
tiafontana^ water blinks ; senecio aquatixms^ marsh
ragwort; car ex recurva, heath-sedge. — On the rocks,
staMce armeria, sea-pink ; geranium sanguineum^
bloody crane's-bill; lavatera arborea, tree-mallow;

Ireland's eye. 169

scilla vernay vernal squill, a sweet and rare flower
with blue and white bells. — On the sandy shores,
arenaria marina^ spurry sandwort, aira fiexuosa^
waved mountain hair-grass ; euphorbia Portlandica,
Portland spurge.

The tourist, returning to the mainland, cannot
leave the scenery of Howth and its fine promontory,
without admitting, that were it within six times the
distance from London that it is from Dublin, it
would long before this be a diadem of picturesque
attraction.

Passing the church and castle on the left, the
parish school is seen on the right, which is principally
supported by Lord Howth. The succeeding sea-
coast presents some good salt-marshes, the pasture of
which is considered restorative for cattle.

Following the road from Howth to Beldoyle, the
botanist will find on the sandy warren in that direc-
tion verbdscum thapsus^ great mullein ; salsola kcdi^
prickly saltwort ; gentiana campestris, field gentian j
eryngium maritimumj sea holly ; conium maculatumj
common hemlock \ statice reticulata^ matted thrift ;
arundo arenaria, sea reed; triticum junceum, rushy
wheat grass ; campanula rotundifoliaj round-leaved
bell flower ; rumex acetosella, sheep's sorrel ; triglo-
chin maritimum, sea arrow grass j scleranthus an-
nuus, annual knowel ; arenaria serpyllifolia, thyme-
leaved sandwort j spergtda nodosa^ knotted spurrey j
a variety of rosa spinosissima, bumet rose, with white
flowers ; thalictrum minicSy lesser meadow rue ; star
chys palustris, marsh woundwort j antirrhinum Una-

170 COUMTY OF DUBLIN.

riOf yellow toad flax, the expressed jube of which,
mixed with milk, is poison for flies ; raphanus raphes
rmtrum^ wild radidi ; hyozcyamm niger^ common
henbane ; trifolium procumbenSf hop trefoil ; carea:
arenaria^ sea sedge ; littorella lacustrUp shore weed ;
atriplex laeimata^ frosted sea-orache ; carlina vulga-
m, the seeds of which, as of mimy other plants of ^e
sune ckss, are furnished with a plume, by which ad-
mirable mechanism they perform long aerial journeys,
crossing lakes and deserts, and are thus disseminated
far from the original plant, having much the appear*
ance of a shuttlecock as they fly. It is further to be
observed, that the flowers of this thistle expand them*
selves in a star, and form a beautiful appearance in
dry weather, but shut tibemselves up against moist»
whence, being immersed in a bottle of water, and ex^
posed to the air, they make an excellent hygrometer,
and retain the quality for a long time. On these
sands may also be observed ranunculus parviflarus,
small-flowered crowfoot ; hlysmus ru/us, narrow-
leaved blysmus, flowering in July, &c.

BELDOYLE,

the next locality, is a fishing village about six Irish
miles from the metropolis, situated upon a cold, bleak
strand, but commanding a good prospect of Howth,
Ireland's Eye, and Lambay. There are eight wher-
ries and four smacks engaged in the fisheries here,
employing about one hundred persons. Its harbour
is nearly dry, boats cannot enter it before last quar-
ter flood, and the general rise of tides is about twelve

BELDOYLE. 171

feet ; there are, however^ good landing beaches, with
conveniences for drying nets.

A handsome chapel is in progress of erection
here. It is to have a nave eighty-four feet long by
forty broad, and thirty-five high, with suitable tran-
septs and a cupola. Near it are two capacious charity
schools, founded in 1831, one for boys, the other for
girls. They are supported partly out of grants of £18
to the former, and £l 7 to the latter, annually, from
the National Board, and partly on Mr. Keary's be-
quest, hereafler mentioned. The total number of
their pupils was 119 in 1834.

This maritime parish bears the name of the vil-
lage, and extends over 1422a. 3r. 12p. Its rectory
being entirely impropriate in the corporation of Dub-
lin, it ranks as but a curacy in the union of Howth,
annexed with it and Killbarrock to a prebend in St.
Patrick's Cathedral. The curate used, until late
years, to receive a stipend of £10 annually from the
corporation, who are also the principal proprietors of
die fee (to the amount of £450 per annum) under
the grant made to them of the possessions of the Pri-
ory of Aroasian Canons of All Hallows.

Some particulars of the order of Regular Canons
of St Augustine, of which the Aroasians were a
branch, and so called from an abbey in the diocese of
Arras, in Flanders, are given at " Holmpatrick/*

The Earl of Howth is also a proprietor of part of
the fee of this parish. Rent varies within it from £2
to £6 per acre, and a cabin without land is let for about
£2 per annum, the wages of labour being 8s. per

172 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

week. This parish accounts likewise in the Roman
Catholic Union of Howth. The census of its com-
parative population returns the Roman Catholics as
1,053, and the Protestants as 85, while the number
of labourers therein and in Kiilbarrock is said to be
139, of whom 83 get constant employment, the re-
mainder occasional.

So early as in the year 1040 Sitric, the Danish King of Dublin,
bestowed, towards the founding of Christ Church, <* the land, ma-
nor, villeins, cows, and corn of Beldoyle." This, however, seems to
have conveyed but a portion of the district, for, in a century after-
wards, Dermot Mac Murrough, on founding the priory of All
Saints, near Dublin (on whose site Trinity College now stands,)
assigned to Bishop Edan O'Killedy, for its use, the lands of Bel-
doyle, with the farmers and serfs living thereon, as also the lands
of Balencongalan, Canturk (Clonturk), Duncarnac (Donnycarney),
Rubanagan, Knockclishan, and Kaldronan.*

In 1184 King Henry confirmed Dermot's grant to All Saints,
and in 1200 King John gave a similar assurance of title to Christ
Church of what it possessed under Sitric's endowment.

In 1270 Nicholas, the sixth Lord Howth, entered into a con-
tract with the prior and convent of All Saints concerning their
portion of Beldoyle, and confirmed their part as they held the same
" in frankalmoign by gift of the ancient Irish kings,**

In 1369 a parliament was held here by William de Windsor,
then Lord Deputy of Ireland, at which certain exorbitant assess-
ments and talliages were laid upon the Pale. These afterwards
became the subject of popular remonstrances, and were impugned
as passed in a place where it was represented there were no build-
ings but a small chapel, and consequently no accommodation for
the commons convened thither, who were thus constrained the
sooner to grant the subsidies sought. For a notice in 1418, see
at " Donnybrook."

• Rot. in Tur. Lend.

BELDOYLE. 173

In 1537 the Nugent family were seised of certain lands here,
see at " Balgriffin."

Immediately previous to the dissolution, the Prior of All Saints
was seised of twenty gardens, sixty acres of arable land, four of
meadow, sixteen of pasture, one of copse, and a warren of an acre
here ; also of four messuages, five cottages, two hundred acres of
arable land, twelve of meadow, twelve of pasture, and four of wood,
in the Grange of Beldoyle, while the rectory of Beldoyle was also
appropriate to that religious house.* Its possessions were there-
upon granted to the corporation of the city of Dublin, on account
of their opposing and suffering by the rebellion of Thomas Fitzge-
rald, and they are still the proprietors thereof. The annual rental
of the estates, which the corporation obtained by right of the reli-
gious house of All Hallows alone, amounts to £4,790 per annum.

At the time of the regal visitation in 1615, Patrick Behan was
the incumbent of Beldoyle, which he held with St. Doulogh's,
Balgriffin, and Malahide.

In 1697 Charles Smith was returned as parish priest of Howth,
Beldoyle, Portmarnock, and BalgrifBn, and resident in Beldoyle.

In 1793 an attempt was made by the Rev. Walter Blake Kir-
wan, then rector of the union of Howth and Beldoyle, to levy
tithes from this townland, when it was determined to resist the
claim as obsolete and unfounded, the city lands there having been
from time immemorial tithe free.

In 1829 Michael Keary, before mentioned, bequeathed £500
for educating the poor children here, which sum has been vested
in government funds, and its interest duly applied within the
union.

In 1831 died here the Rev. Michael Bernard Keogh, who was
parish priest of this union for thirteen years, and a preacher of
such estimable celebrity that it is unnecessary at this recent inter-
val to affect to recall his merits. A contemporary periodical thus
characterizes the style of his sermons : — " He is not what the world
generally deems a finished orator, a measurer of sentences, an
elaborate constructer of periods, a struggler after the imaginary

• Inquis. 30. Hen. 8. in Ch. Rememb. Offia

174 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

graces of pronabciation, a sedulous observer of all the school- worn
laws of gesticulation. He is not an orator of this class, he appears
rather to rely upon the innate dignity of his profession, the sound-
ness of the doctrine which he promulgates, and the natural re»
sources of his own mind. He seeks not to propitiate you by any
borrowed embellishments, he scorns to attract your attention by
the specious charlatanism of ordinary rhetoricians, he comes be-
fore yon in the simple but lofty character of a Christian minister,
OS one empowered and deputed to address you in the name of
heaven ; he teaches you even at the first glance to feel, that it is
not his part to flatter your prejudices, to study the peculiarity of
your taste, or to accommodate his opinions and expressions to your
previously indulged habits | he wrings from you by his air and
manner a tacit acknowledgment of his supremacy, and you stand
befcMre him in submissive silence as one bound to listen with un-
broken attention to what ever he may choose to utter." He was
interred in the vaults of St. Michael's and St. John's Catholic
church, and a marble monument in the chapel of this parish records
the virtues of its pastor.

The botany of Beldoyle presents Itfcopsis arvensis^
bugloss ; viola tricolor^ pansy violet ; viola luteay yel-
low pansy ; erythrcea centauriumj common centau-
ry ; agrostema githago, corn cockle ; cerastiicm ar-
vensCj field mouse-ear chickweed ^ spergula arvenr
si^9 com spurrey; papaver duhium^ long smooth-
headed poppy ; papaver somniferurrti white poppy ;
rapharms raphanistrumj wild radish ; vicia cracca^
tufted vetch ; vicia sativa^ common vetch. — In the
sandy banks, fields and waste grounds, erodium d"
cutarmMy hemlock stork's bill ; geranium molle^ soft
crane*s bill, and a variety thereof with white flowers ;
sonchus arvensiSf com sow thistle j crepis biennis,
rough hawk's beard ; euphorbia paralia, sea spurge ;
cardmis marianus, milk thistle; gnaphalium ger-

BELDOYLB. 175

tnanicum^ common cud weed ; senecio vUe^miSt fetid
groundsel j lychnis flos cuculh ra^ed robin ; iri/o^
Hum arvense^ hare's foot trefoil. — In the hedges, tri-
folium officinale^ melilot-^In the meadows, apargia
autumnaliSy autumnal hawkbit.— In the com fields,
cknfmnthemum segetutfh com marigold ; hlium te-
muiefttmr^ bearded darnel. — In the gravelly heaths,
ttpargia hirta, deficient hawk bit, and in the muddy
sea shore, salicomia herbaceOf marsh samphire ; ca-
rex distans^ loose carex.

A dreary road issues from this village towards
Portmarnock, having at right a great scope of shore,
which might be easily, and at a small expense, res-
cued from the tide ; at left a tract of salt marsh, and
an extensive coney-burrow, while in front the island
of Lambay and the heights about Malahide give a
feature of the picturesque to the scene. After pass-
ing the bridge at Maine, a road turns at left to
Balgriffin, following the course of the little streamlet
that rises near Ballymun, and gliding through Bel-
camp, Balgriffin, and Stapolin, passes here into the
sea. Continuing hence along the shore to Portmar-
nock, the road traverses the salt marsh and coney-
burrow before alluded to, partially overgrown with
furze, and exhibiting to the more curious botanic in-
quirer, the scirpus rufus^ brown club rush ; scirpus
maritimuSi salt marsh club rush ; €lau€us m^timusy
wild carrot; thymus ^rpyUum^ wild thyme; gna^
phcUium uliginosumi marsh cudweed ; scirpus glav^usy
glaucous club rush ; saiicomia herbacea, marsh sam-
phire; chara vulgaris^ comnwrn chara; kmna tri-

176 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

sulca^ ivy-leaved duck weed; lycopus EuropcetiSy
gipsy wort; scabiosa succisay devil's bit scabious;
menyanthes trifoliata^ marsh trefoil; chenopodium
maritimum^ sea goose foot; sium inundatumj least
water parsnip ; schcenus rufus^ red bog rush ; schce-
nics nigricans^ black bog rush ; cenanthe peucedani-
folia^ water dropwort ; cenanthe ptmpinelloides, pars-
ley water dropwort, flowering in July ; linum cathar-
ticum, purging flax; trifolium arveme, hare's foot
trefoil ; cale.v distans, loose sedge ; saxifraga granvr
lata, white meadow saxifrage, flowering in May — ^the
double white saxifrage of the gardens is a species of
this; melUotus officinalis, common yellow melilot, flow-
ering in June and July ; statice spathuUUa, upright
spiked sea lavender j statice limonium, common sea
lavender, flowering in July and August. — While on
the road side, in the same direction, ore found nialva
rotundifolia, dwarf mallow ; and papaver hyhridum,
round rough-headed poppy.

" Sopha'd on silk, amid her charm-built towers,
Her meads of asphodel, and amaranth bowers.
Where sleep and silence guard the soft abodes,
In sullen apathy papaver nods."

Presently the tourist reaches the hamlet of

PORTMARNOCK,

with the venerable mansion-house of the Plunketts
peering from its ancient woods, on the brink of a little
nameless river that rises above Kinsaly, winds by its
old church, and here empties itself in to the sea. On
its opposite bank is a mill worked by a stream and by

PORTMARNOCK. I ^^

an arm of the sea. It is, however, wholly useless
in summer, and even during a great portion of the
winter, although a very trifling expenditure would
enhance its advantages to the neighbourhood. Near
the mansion-house is a moat surrounded with old
trees. The ancient church, which was the burial
place of the Plunkett family, has long since fallen into
decay. The present is a small structure without or-
naments or tombs, while the grave-yard exhibits but
the solitary one of a Mr. Trumbull.

The rectory of Portmarnock is entirely impropriate.
The parish, therefore, ranks ecclesiastically as but a
curacy, in the deanery of Swords, and in the arch-
bishop's gift. It borders on the sea, extends over
2326a. Or. 21 p., has nine acres of glebe, and in the Ca-
tholic arrangement is in the union of Howth. The
late census of the comparative population states the
Catholics here as three hundred and sixty-two, and
the Protestants as eighty-three. Mr. Luke Plunkett
is a principal proprietor of the fee; the Grange, how-
ever, belongs to Lord Milltown. Arable land here,
and in the adjoining townland of Carrickhill, is let for
a rent of about £4 per acre, while the sandy skirts
produce £2, the labourer's wages being from 7^. to
8^. per week.

Henry the Second, whilst in Ireland, granted the lands of
Portmarnock to the Abbey of the Blessed Virgin in Dublin, with
all rights, &c., as before mentioned at " Ratheny," which grant wa
confirmed by the bull of Pope Clement the Third in 1189. A
bull, it may be here remarked, is the term given to letters apos-
tolic containing the decrees or commandments of the pope. It
acquired this appellation from the bulla ornament attached to it.

178 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Bulls are always written on parchment, and sealed with lead or
green wax, and thereby distinguished from briefs. They are
divided into two sorts, the one appertaining to an act of justice,
the other to an act of grace. In the former instance the lead
attached to the bull is hung by a hempen cord, in the latter by a
silken thread. This pendent lead or seal bears the impression on
one side of the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul, and on the other
of the name of the pope and the year of his pontificate. Besides
the seal or lead, they have usually a cross, with some text of scrip-
ture or other religious motto attached to them. On the death of
a popehis name is immediately erased from the pontifical seal, which,
being thereupon carefully wrapt up in a linen cloth, is delivered
to the chamberlain, under the seal of the vice-chancellor, to be
preserved by him until the election of a new pontiff.

King John, at the commencement of his reign, confirmed (o
the reh'gious house of the Blessed Virgin the lands of Portmarnock,
Lisban, and Munmackan, with the chapel of Portmarnock and all
its appurtenances, to be enjoyed by the grantees, freed from any
secular service or exaction whatsoever. It was accordingly a ma-
nor or lordship in their hands ; a dispute, however, soon after
arose between one Elias Cumin and the abbot, concerning the
lands between Portmarnock, the Grange, and the town of Kin-
saly, which was compromised by that portion being equally di-
vided between them, the part contiguous to the Grange being
assigned to the monks, while the other portion near Kinsaly was
to be enjoyed by Elias.*

For a notice of Portmarnock in 1540, see at " Bally bog-
hill."

On the dissolution, the aforesaid abbey was found to have
been seised of three messuages, 240a. arable, IOa. meadow, and
12a. pasture, in the Grange of Portmarnock, annual value £12;
also, of nine messuages and ten cottages, 220a. arable, 5a.
meadow, and a stang of pasture in Portmarnock, annual valuo
£11 17^. Od. ; two tide-mills, a water-course, and a rabbit-
burrow, annual value £4 ; also of the rectory of Portmarnock,

Archdall, Mon. Hib. p. 154.

PORTMABNOCK. 179

eitending t>Ter the townlands of Portmarnock, the Grange of
Portmarnock, and Robs-wall, annual value, £10 bs. Od,* The
Grange and warren were thereupon, together with the mills, (pro-
perly called tidemills, being suppUed with water from the sea,)
demised to the Earl of Ormond, and the reversion subsequently
granted to Sir Patrick Barnewall. In 1603, however. Sir George
Carew, knight, passed patent for the Grange of Portmarnock, 261
acres, with all the tithes and customs thereof, stated as having
been theretofore demised to the Earl of Ormond in 1575 ; while
in the following year the Earl of Thomond had a grant of the
tithes of the town and lands of Portmarnock, as demised in 1578
to Thomas Earl of Ormond. The Earl of Thomond had a fur-
ther grantin 1609of the Grange of Portmarnock, 261 acres, with all
and singular royal fisheries and fishings adjoining to said premises.
In consequence of these and other subsequent grants, a very heavy
litigation ensued in the eighteenth century between Nicholas Lord
Kingsland and the Kingston family.

For a notice in 1602, see at " Dalkey ;" about which time an
inquisition was taken relative to the tithes of Portmarnock, which
defines the rights therein as they then existed.

in 1615 the commissioners on royal visitation reported this
place to be without a clergyman, and the great tithes and altarages
granted away. They accordingly assigned John Etheridge for the
cure. For a notice in the same year, see at " White Church.**

In 1668 Walter Plunkett was found seised of the town and lands
of the Grange Portmarnock, 383 acres plantation measure ; yet
in a few years afterwards, the same were, with the mill, on inqui-
sition, alleged to be the property oi Lord Kingsland, who actually
passed patent for them, with other extensive tracts, in 1660 and
1685, while Luke Plunkett was, on the latter occasion, found
seised of 211 acres in the townland of Portmarnock, and of 135
acres in CarrickhilLf

In 1700 Thomas Plunkett and Catherine his wife claimed an
estate for Kfe, and a jointure for said Catherine, in Portmarnock
and Carrickhill, William Plunkett, the heir of the before men-
tioned Luke, having forfeited his interest therein in the civil war

• Inquis in Ch. Remb. Office. t Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

N 2

180 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

of 1689. Their claim was, however, postppned, they being pe-
titioners before the commons, while George Plunkett and Jo-
hanna his wife, who had been the widow of said Luke Plunkett,
claimed the benefit of her jointure off the lands, which was allowed.

About Portmaraock the botanist will find viola
tricolor y pansy violet; viola lutea^ yellow pansy;
chlora perfoliata, perfoliate yellow wort; cerastium
arvense^ field mouse-ear chickweed ; spergula ar-
vensts, corn spurrey; rosa spinosissima, bumet rose;
papaver somni/erum, white poppy ; sisymbrium so-
phiay fine-leaved hedge mustard; geranium Pyre-
naicufn^ mountain crane's bill ; polygala vulgaris,
milkwort; anthyllis vulneraria, kidney vetch; lis-
tera ovata, common tway blade ; agroslema githago,
corn cotkle ; sinapis alba, white mustard, eaten as
an ingredient in salads ; cenanthe pimpinelloides,
parsley water dropwort.

On the sandy banks, fields, and shores, phleum
arenariumj sea cat's tail grass ; festuca tiniglumis,
single husked fescue grass ; arundo arenaria, sea
reed; triticum junceum, rxx^y yfhe?^. grass; convol-
vulus soldanella, sea bindweed; campanula rotun-
difolia, round-leaved bell flower ; erythroea littoralis,
dwarf tufted centaury; eryngium maritimumj sea
holly ; amni majus, common bishop's weed ; Parnas*
sia palustris, grass of Parnassus, with its beautiful yel-
low-streaked flowers ; allium arenarium, sand garlic ;
spergula nodosa, knotted spurrey ; a variety of the
thymus serpyllum, wild thyme, with woolly heads ; eu-
phrasia officinalis, eyebright, enlivening the autumnal
scene with its brilliant little blossoms ; cakile mariti-

PORTMARNOCK. 181

Tiia, sea rocket ; picris hieracyoides^ hawk weed ox
tongue, peculiar to these sands ; erodium cicutariunij
hemlock stork's bill ; euphorbia paralia, sea spurge ;
carea: arenariay sea sedge ; equisetum variegatum^ va-
riegated horse-tail, a very rare plant ; carea: extensa,
long bracteated sedge ; salir argentea, silky sand wil-
low, whose leaves are so conspicuous for the silver bril-
liancy of their under surface, as to rival some of the
most beautiful Cape shrubs in that particular ; apargia
aw<wmna/t*, autumnal hawkbit ; car///ia vulgaris^ com-
mon carline thistle ; gramen sparteum spicatum, sea
mat weed, or marram, used for matting ; reseda luteola^
wild woad, highly prized by the ancient Irish for the
yellow dye it afforded ; this at Portmarnock has been
cultivated for the purpose, and grew to the height of
three feet and a half, staining as deep a yellow as
that raised at Rouen, which was imported sometimes
at £200 per cwt. ; schAsnus nigricans^ black bog-
rush ; reseda alba^ wild mignionette ; thalictrum
minusy lesser meadow rue; Mr. Mackay has also
discovered here the clypeola jonthlasph a curious
little plant, a native of the Mediterranean shore ;
sinapis nigra, common mustard ; trifolium arvense,
hare's foot trefoil ; gnaphalium dioicum, mountain
cudweed; epipactis lati/oliaj broad-leaved helleborine;
crambe maritima, sea kale ; viola hirta, hairy violet,
flowering in April and May ; viola Curtisii, yellow
sea pansy, flowering from May to September ; stch
tice spathulaiaj upright spiked sea lavender ; erythroea
latifolia, broad-leaved tufted centaury ; erythrcea cen-
tauriumf common centaury, both flowering in July;

182 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

lycopodium saldgirmdes^ lesser Alpine club moss ;
hypnum albicanSf ht/pnum abieHmum^ hypnum ru-
tabiUum. — In the dry pastures aira cristata^ crested
hair grass; apargia hispida^ rough hawkbit; crepis
UenniSi rough hawk's beard; ophrys api/eraj bee
orchis ; apargia hirta, deficient hawkbit ; linum ca-
tharticunij purging flax.

In the muddy sea shore, salicornea herbacea,
marsh samphire. — In the hedges, fields, and ditches,
medicago sativa, lucerne ; orchis pyramidalisy pyra-
midal orchis ; Jedia olitoria, lambs lettuce.— In the
marshy places, orchis lafifolia^ marsh palmate orchis ;
rot bollia incurvata^ sea hard grass; chenopodium
maritimumy sea goose foot; cenanthe peucedani'^
folia^ water dropwort; carex distansy loose carex;
anagaUis tenella, bog pimpernel, flowering in July
and August; epipactis palusfris, marsh helleborine,
flowering in July. — At the bridge, cochlearia offi-
cinalisy common scurvy grass. — On limestone, le-
cidea speira, urceolaria contorta. — On tiles, lecor
nora ean]g't/a.— Near the old church, rasa dume-
torum^ thicket rose ; rosa arvensis^ white trailing dog
rose ; rosa inodora, slightly scented briar, flowering
in June and July. While the qnagallis tenella, bog
pimpernel, with its purple flowers,

*< Marshals me the way that I was going.*'

A dreary way it would hafve been, had its direct
course been followed into Malahide ; the route, how-
ever, is made far more interesting by turning oflf at
right to Portmarnock strand by

CARRICKHILL. 183

CARRICKHILL,

i. e. the kill of rocks, a denomination also the ancient
inheritance of the Plunkett family.

Travelled as this locality was, on a lovely day iu
MaiTh, the sparrows, the boldest and most mischievous
of feathered visitantsj were chirping and plundering*
around, the swallows wantoned in the mid region of
the air, and the larks, perhaps the only birds of this
country that sing as they soar^ were springing into
the clear blue sky, or wafted in music on the passing
breeze. A narrow, melancholy lane, hedged with
elder, conducted to the not uninteresting ruins of tlie
old church j the gables and side walls are almost per-
fect, as is the triply perforated belfry. The grave*
yard boasts of no anstocratie dust, but, within the shell
of the chapelj under the boughs of the elders that
entwine over them, arc two monuments, one to The-
resa riuukett, who died in 1072* another stated to have
been *' erected" (but now "fliUen from its high es-
tate") by Mr. Oliver Barnewall of Dublin, " mar-
chant," for himself and his wife Catherine, while at
its foot is noted the death of the commemorator of the
dead, said Oliver himself, in 1690* This chapel is
about twenty yards in length by only four and au
half in breadth.

Thence the pedestrian can proceed over a warren,
where numerous daisies were at this time struggling

• A French writer on rtiral economy lias culculated, ibal the gruin
consumed hy *^nrrow)i in Frauvc, onnmiltv , 13 wgrlli ten jnUtignu of

francs*

184 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

through the sands. As an old poet quaintly writes —

" Of all the flowers that grow in the mead,
I love the best that flowret white and red;
Which maidens call daisie, that adorn,
Like eyes of day, the green, smooth, summer lawn ;
Emblem of childish innocence, I see
Again my youth and playmates all in thee.
As merry lasses, dancing on the green,
Tread down thy flower which erst shall not be seen.
But trampled wither to the autumn's sun.
And wane away when their short race is run ;
So ray young life, by fleeting hours oppressed,
And worn by those that it hath most caressed.
Will close anon, when I no more shall be
Noticed or thought upon, sweet flower, than thee."

Presently valleys of dazzling sands appeared open,
ing to the sea, and in some places exhibiting a scanty
vegetation, but more usually the bare tracks of rab-
bits. Then such a lovely strand, so white, so firm,
so curiously inlaid with every specimen of shells ;
the silent, sunny, sandy cliffs at left ; the blue sea at
right, foaming its white wreaths over the whole shore,
and in the distance Howth, apparently insulated, and
Ireland's Eye, and further yet Lambay, enveloped in
vapour. The black, rocky shore of Tobbermackeany
succeeded, its dangerous aspect being fatally illus-
trated by the masts of a sunken vessel, that pointed
above the full tide at a short distance from its ledge,
and over which the gulls were wildly screaming. At
the head of these rocks appear the butments of a quay
that once projected from this shore ; over it now stands
another of the martello chimeras, from which a narrow
terrace road leads to

ROBERTSWALL CASTLE. 185

ROBERT8WALL CASTLE,

a square edifice erected on a rock that overhangs the
sea, and having a farm-house attached to it.

According to tradition this castle was founded in the fifteen tU
century by one of ihc sept of de Berxningham.

By inquisition taken in ihe time of Henry the Eighlli, the reli-
gii>us house of the Virgin Mary was found seised of ninety -three
acres in ** RoebuckVwEill, as abo of a castle and six messuages
there, annual value £3 13^,4^,* In lien of whichj on the sur*
render of that hou^e, William Cottrell, " parson of the convent,**
had a pensioti of £3 6.*. 8</. granted to him, chargeable on the
tithes of '* Hoebuck^s walls "

Soon after the dissolution the castle was granted, with its ap-
purtenances, to Sir Patrick Barncwall in fce^ which patent was
suhjscquently confirmed by King Edward the Sixth, the premises
being charged, as were the manors and lordships of Bally boghill,
Fori mar nock, and the other possessions of Mary's Abbey, with a
pension for the last abbot and his brethren- The tithes of Ro-
bert a-wall were granted to the same patentee, subject to a yearly
rent of£l 10*, Irish, lately purchased by Mr. Christopher Mac
Donnell, who has also acquired the fee of the soih For a notice
in 1C02, sec " Dalkey."

In 1G85, Fvird Kingsland pa^cd patent for (inter alia) Robs-
walli one hundred and fifteen acres, with the tithes thereof.

Lead ore has been found in the rocks here, dis-
|iosed ill ramifications, and crystals resembling Kerry
stones have likewise been collected here. It has also
a large vein of black and some white marble, with
representations of white shells mixed through it, after
the manner of the Kilkenny marble-

With the wreck still in view, the fearful thoiiglit
suggested itself, what a scene would this be in a night

• Xn'|uis. in Ch. Rememb. Office.

186 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

of storms, the roaring, foamy tide of sea dashing

against the rocky basement of the castle ; the rain

pouring a deluge over the cliffs,

" Giving its sum of more
To that which had too much ;"

the agitated moonbeams tossed on the heaving waters;
the lightning bursting through the opening sky ; and
above all, the deep, dead tones of signals of distress.
The gloomy magnificence of the speculation was
relieved by the presence of a more peaceful and re-
freshing object, a remarkable, bubbling, fresh spring
of delicious water, within the immediate proximity of
the sea; at a few paces beyond which is

MALAHIDE,

a well-built and pleasantly situated village on the
brow of the sea, as its name implies, but, being
without shelter and in an open country, it is much
exposed to the influence of the winds. The air,
however, is very pure. In the middle of the town is
a well of clear and wholesome water, dedicated to the
Blessed Virgin, and covered with an arched enclo-
sure, within which her statue was formerly set. The
chapel is very old and inadequate for its congregation.
Two national schools have been established here,
one for boys, the other for girls, which receive re-
spectively £12 and £20 annually from the Board.
The new church is a neat, small edifice, on a com-
manding height, without any mural slabs, nor has the
grave-yard as yet received any distinguished occu-
pants. Opposite the church is a Protestant school
established in 1821.

MALAHIDE. 187

Malahide has been a lordship or manor in the
Talbot family for centuries, having courts leet or
baron, and comprising the towns and lands of Feltrim,
Hamonstown, Balvenstown, &c. The royalties ex-
tend a considerable distance along the sea-shore. The
lords of the manor have also enjoyed the privilege of
importing coals and other merchandize into its little
harbour, duty free.

Near the town is the castle, or, as it is usually
termed, the court, the residence of the noble inheritor,
Lord Talbot de Malahide. This building is large,
irregular, and unequal in its height, nearly square in
its outer form, and richly invested with ivy, erected
in an elevated situation on a limestone rock : it com-
mands a fine view of the town and bay of Malahide.
The hall is spacious, and presents all the features of
antiquity. Indeed, the foundation of this structure
is commonly referred to the reign of Henry the Se-
cond, but it received considerable repairs and addi-
tions in that of Edward the Fourth. A fine porch
has been constructed to the principal entrance, under
the direction of the present proprietor, and the build-
ing considerably improved thereby, in regard both to
external ornament and internal convenience. There
are ten rooms on a floor. The lower story, consist-
ing of servants* offices, &c. is vaulted, and entered by
a gothic doorway, while the rooms above are ap-
proached by spiral stone stairs, leading into a striking
antique apartment, lighted by a pointed window of
stained glass. The wainscoting of this room is of
Irish oak, that has now acquired the sombre tint of
ebony, and is divided into compartments, ornamented

188 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

with sculpture from Scriptural history. Adjoining
this room is the saloon, a spacious, handsome apart-
ment, containing some good paintings, particularly a
valuable little picture, once an altar piece, belonging
to Mary Queen of Scots, which represents the nati-
vity, adoration, and circumcision, and was painted by
Albert Durer ; a portrait of the Dutchess of Ports^
mouth, mistress of Charles IL, fondling a contented
dove ; another of her son, the first Duke of Rich-
mond ; (these two latter pictures were presents from
the Dutchess to Mrs. Wogan of Rathcoffy, from whom
they were inherited by Colonel Talbot;) one of King
Charles I. dancing with the Infanta of Spain at the
Escurial, &c. The original moat of the castle has
been softened off into an ornamental slope, planted
with Italian cypresses and other evergreens, but the
battlements still remain terminated at the angles by
circular towers, and present an imposing front. The
demesne and gardens are disposed with much correct-
ness of taste, and the former is beautified with groups
of plantations, amongst which are some splendid old
oaks, elms, ashes, horse-chesnuts, and sycamores, that
seem the representatives of a forest nobility, almost as
ancient as that of the family by whom they were planted.
Beside the castle, are the venerable remains of its
ancient chapel, the entrance to which is guarded by
two magnificent sycamores. The form which this
edifice presents, is that of a nave and chancel or
choir, divided from each other by a spacious gothic
arch, about the centre of the building ; the aisle is
sixteen yards by seven, the chancel eleven by six
yards and a half ; what remains of the east window is

MALAHIDE. 189

camposed of muUions and other divisions of tracery
of the perpendicular style in architecture, finely inter-
wreathed with ivy. Adjoining the chancel is a pointed
arch door, leading to some apartments which were
either occupied as a vestry, or for the residence of the
monks of the abbey. The western end supports the
belfry, and Is thickly covered over with ivy. The ex-
ternal parts of the building are not altogether without
ornament. The canopies or drip-stones of the arches
are well cut, and, In consequence of the hardness of the
black stone or calp with which this church was con-
structed, they preserve to the present day an uncom-
mon sharpness in the mouldings. Beneath the belfry
there Is another handsome gothic window, divided Into
two lights, with crocketted ogee canopies, though
greatly mutilated. The walls had originally embattled
parapets. The Interior Is strikingly shaded with vene-
rable chesnut trees, that in their season of foliage cast
a still more sombre interest over the monuments they
shadow. Of the latter, the most worthy of notice is
an altar-tomb surmounted with the eflBgy, In bold
relief, of a female habited In the costume of the
fifteenth century, and representing the Honourable
Maud Plunkett, wife of Sir Richard Talbot. She
had been previously married to Mr. Hussey, son to
the Baron of Galtrlm, who was slam on the day of
her nuptials, leaving her the singular celebrity of
having been a " maid, wife, and widow on the same
day." There are other monuments of the Talbot
family, and some more modern of the Henleys and
Stapletons, scattered through the enclosure — Near

190 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

this, in a garden, is a square tower of the ancient out-
works of the castle.

The parish bears the name of the village. It was
formerly a chapelry dependant on the church of
Swords, but now ranks as a curacy in its deanery.
From a very remote period it was held with those of
KiUeigh and Killossory, and the vicarage of Swords,
and so episcopally united in 1810. That union has,
however, been since dissolved, and this parish (the
rectory being impropriate in the economy of St. Pa-
trick's) is now conferred as a curacy separately, the
patronage being in the dean and chapter of St. Pa-
trick's. The tithes have been compounded for at
£110 per annum. In the Catholic dispensation it
continues to be in the union of Swords. According
to the census of 1831, it contains 217 inhabited
houses, 237 families, and a total population of 1255
souls, in which estimate the Catholics bear a propor-
tion of four to one. It comprises 1533a. Or. 3p.,
principally laid out in tillage. The soil rests upon
mountain limestone, and the quarries, which are of
black, grey, and yellow hues, afford numerous organic
remains. On the south side of the high lands, conti-
guous to the sea, lead ore has been discovered. Lord
Talbot de Malahide is the resident proprietor of the
fee ; the rent of land varies from £5 to £G per acre,
and a cabin without land lets for £2 10^. per annum.
The number of labourers in the parish is supposed to
be about ninety, of whom some have constant em-
ployment, and the rest occasional. The former class
receive about \5d. per day, wages.

MALAHIDE. 191

The cotton manufactory, hereafter alluded to, as
having been established in the town, is metamor-
phosed into one for silk, which gives daily employ-
ment to but eight individuals. The fishery has also
so much declined, that there are but three wherries
here now fit to put to sea. The depth of water in
the harbour varies from four and a half to five fa-
thoms at high water, but it has neither pier nor quay,
nor indeed do they appear much wanted, as the ves-
sels beach easily on the sandy shore, and may ride
afloat in the channel in perfect safety, if their draught
does not exceed ten feet. The oyster bed, however,
maintains its ancient celebrity. It is of about two
acres extent, but requires to be renewed. The oys-
ters are green finned. Malahide likewise affords excel-
lent cockles, and the strand (a large tract of which
could be easily recovered from the sea) is covered
with an abundance of curious shells. There is also
a considerable salt-work here.

In 1174 Richard de Talbot, having accompanied Henry the
Second to Ireland, obtained a grant of Malahide, part of which,
Malahide beg, he soon afterwards leased to the monks of Mary's
Abbey, and his son Reginald confirmed the demise.

In 1 190 Malahide is mentioned as a chapelry dependant on
Swords. See "Coolock."

In 1286 Richard de Talbot, grandson of the aforesaid Richani,
having succeeded to thb manor on the death of his father Adam,
granted to King Edward all lordships, escheats, reliefs, marriages,
&c. happening therein, and settled the said manor thereby on his
son Milo de Talbot In 1800 the said Richard contributed twenty
shillings as his subsidy for Malahide towards the expenses of the
Scottish war. Soon after which occur records of stubborn kw-
suits between his grandson and another Richard Talbot, of Fel-
trim and Castletown-Dalkey, for the manor of Malahide, in which

192 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

the former was, after a due course of litigation, ruinously success-
ful. This Richard of Malahide was, in 1315, Sheriff of Dublin,
he subsequently signalized himself in the wars against Edward
Bruce, but was, with other noblemen and gentlemen, treacherously
murdered at Ballybragan, in the County of Louth, in 1329. At
the time of this event, Thomas, the son and heir of said Richard,
was a minor, and accordingly the king in that year made a grant
of the wardship of his estates during the minority, at a certain
nominal rent to one of the minions of the day.*

In 1373 Thomas Talbot of Malahide was summoned to at-
tend a great council held in Dublin, as also to a parliament in the
same year; and in two years afterwards, the surveyors of the
harbour of Malahide were instructed to oppose the unlicensed ex-
portation of corn thence, and also to prevent any of the retinue
of the chief governor, William de Windsor, from absenting them-
selves from Ireland in that direction, under the penalty of forfeit-
ing their horses, arms, and baggage, and proclamation to that effect
was directed to be made within thb lordslfl|l.

In 1408, the king, being seised as before in right of a minority,
granted two-thirds of the manor of Malahide to Sir Thomas Fle-
ming, the other third being in the hands of the doweress ;f and in
1433 a grant of the same nature was made under similar circum-
stances. — Such was the political injustice, by which, in those days,
the royal exchequer was fed by the spoliation of the orphan and
the ward !

In 1475 the editor of Camden will have it that Malahide was
erected into a manor and free warren, and that, therefore, the
bust of Edward IV. was reverentially placed over the castle gate.
The manor was, however, of far higher antiquity ; but there was
a grant, in this year, by that monarch to Thomas Talbot, by
which, in addition to his former privileges of receiving customs,
holding courts leet and baron, &c., said Thomas was appointed
high admiral of the seas, with full power and authority to hear
and determine, in a court of admiralty, all trespasses, &c., by the
tenants or vassals, or other residents, within the town of Malahide.
In 1488 Sir Richard Edgecombe, when he came to take oaths
of allegiance from those who had espoused the cause of Simnel in

• Rot. in Cane. Hib. t lb.

MALAHIDE. 193

Ireland, landed at Malahide, " and there a gentlewoman called
Talbot received him and made him right good cheer ; and the
same day, at afternoon, the Bishop of Meath and others came to
Malahide aforesaid, well accompanied, and fetched the said Sir
Richard to Dublin, and, at his coming thither, the mayor and sub-
stance of the city received him at the Black Friars' Gate, at which
Black Friars (the site of the present Four Courts) the said Sir
Richard was lodged.*** In a few days afterwards. Sir Peter Talbot,
Lord of Malahide, made both his homage and fealty to him at
St. Mary's Abbey.

For a notice of the rights of the vicar of Swords in Malahide,
see « Swords" at the year 1489. In 1524 Sir Peter Talbot was
fined for suffering merchant vessels to break bulk at Malahide,
contrary to the king's privileges granted to the city of Dublin.
By his will of the year 1529, he directed that he should be buried
in the church of Malahide, beside Dame Janet Eustace, and left
considerable bequests for the repair and maintenance of its
chancel.

In 1580 Malahide is enumerated in the Repertorium Viride
of the unfortunate Allen, Archbishop of Dublin, as still one of the
exterior chapels dependant on Swords.

At the hosting of 1532, Thomas Talbot was summoned to
render scutage and do military service for the manors of Malahide
and Garristown.

An inquisition was taken in 1547 concerning the tithes of
Malahide ; which finds that they issue from the lands called « the
Courte de Malahyd" and Balregan, and are worth, together with
the tithe bf fish and altarages, £11 6s. Sd. per annum, besides half
the oblations at funerals which belong to the Vicar of Swords ;
the stipend of the curate and repairing of the chancel being de-
frayed by the farmer of the tithes. In 1559 the tithes of Mala-
hide, « as well predial as all personal offerings," were demised to
William Talbot of Malahide for fifty-nine years.

This locality is subsequently classed by Holinshed amongst
the chief haven-towns of Ireland. In 1639, Lord Strafford sought
to wrest from Richard Talbot, the then inheritor of Malahide, the

* Harrises Hibemica, part 1, p. 31.

194 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

admiralty of its port and other his valuable franchises, but, on his
pleading the ancient charters under which his family had so long
inherited, the court gave judgment against the crown, and Straf-
ford's designs were on this occasion defeated.

In 1649, John Talbot, the son and heir of said Richard,
having, in the wars of 1641, embraced that side, to which mis-
guided loyalty and ill-requited enthusiasm had hurried the gallant
and respectable gentry of Ireland, shared with them the ruinous
consequences of one national attainder. He was outlawed, and
his castle of Malahide, with five hundred acres of land, was, about
this year, granted to Miles Corbet, the regicide, soon after which,
it is believed that Oliver Cromwell took up his id>ode for a short
time here. Corbet held it for about seven years, and, according
to tradition, it was during his occupation that the chapel was un-^
roofed, for the profane purpose of covering a bam with the mate-
rials. << From this port, Corbet, when outlawed at the period of
the Restoration, took shipping for the Continent, and subsequently
expiated his < errors,' as Mr. Brewer mildly terms them, by a de*
grading death. Shortly after his flight from Malahide the Talbot
family regained possession of the estate." — Corbet, it may be re*
marked, was a gentleman of an ancient family in the county of
Norfolk. He had studied the law at Lincoln's Inn, and for the
space of thirty-seven years had been chosen a member of the
successive parliaments. Being appointed one of the High Court
of Justice for King Charles's trial, he appeared not among the
judges until the day that sentence was pronounced, when he came
early in the morning and signed the warrant for his death, his
signature being the last on the roll. He was afterwards Lord
Chief Baron in Ireland, and is characterized as in other respects << a
man of a very tender conscience, and of an holy life and conversa-
tion, and that as well in his greatest prosperity as in his adversity.'*
In 1653, and again in 1659, Corbet was one of the five commis-
sioners appointed for the government of Ireland, he being particu-
larly directed on the latter occasion, after three months, to come
into England to give the parliament an account of the affairs of
thai country. In this office he manifested such integrity towards
his employers, that in the anxiety to husband tlie treasure of the
Comnionwealth, he impaired his own estate. On the abdication

MALAHIDE. 195

of Richard CromweU, when Lord Montgomery and bb royalist
aasodates possessed thcmsdves of the Castle of Dublioi and made
ColonelJones their prisoner, thehr next measure was to seize
Corbet as he was returning from a conTentide, and to declare for
a free parli«nent. About the year 1661 he was executed as a
regicide at Tyburn, being drawn thither on a sledge from the
Tower ; fais quarters were placed over the city gates, and his head
upon London bridge. He has been described as then an aged,
black, swarthy, melancholy-looking man.

In 1660, « the lands of Malahide being for the most part
waste and yielding no profit,'' its tithes, which were from a very
early period appropriated to the economy of St« Patrick's cathe-
dral, were demised to Ralph Wallis, Esq., for twenty-one years at
the yeaHy rent of £12.

In 1665, by the Act of Explanation, John Talbot of Malahide
was restored to all his lands and estates in this county, as he had
held the same in 1641, but subject to quit rents.

In 1661, the Archbishop of Dublin having nominated a com-
mission of inquiry to determine the real value of the tithes of
Malahide, Killossery, and Killeigh, which reported them worth
£135, assigned one-third (£45) to the curate of Swords, tanquam
ialoiium secundum jura et siatuia hvjus regni ffibemia pro
Jungendo itio qffkio curaih and the remaining two-thirds be ap-
pointed should be payable to the Economy of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

In 1697, Mr. Thomas Smyth was returned as Parish Priest of
Malahide, and resident at Mr. Talbot's.

In 1782, Richard Talbot, of Malahide, was one of the gentle-
men who undertook to raise a regiment of fencibles for the defence
of his country. Each regiment on this occasion was to consist of
eight companies, to be raised by the officers in numbers, according
to their radc* without levy money, while government was to pro-
vide accoutrements, arms, and pay.

In 1783, a cotton manufacture having been established here
by the same spirited individual, and a large mill erected where
cotton was spun by the action of water, the Irish Parliament voted
£2000 towards completing its machinery.

In 1788, by a statute, reciting that the country adjacent to the
town of Malahide, and also a considerable part of the county of

196 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Meath, was supplied with coals, culm, slates, timber, and various
other things, from the harbour of the said town of Malahide, which
were conveyed thence by land carriage, at a very considerable ex-
pense, to the great discouragement of persons concerned in manu-
factures, and that Richard Talbot of Malahide proposed to make
a navigable canal from Malahide through Swords, to the river of
Fieldstown, at his own proper charges, said Richard was empow-
ered to purchase the land in the line of said canal, to open rivers^
make weirs, &c. as the company of the Grand Canal had been
previously enabled to do, and with the right of similar duties and
tolls. In this last year, however, Malahide sustained a deep loss
in the death of this its proprietor, of whom it is but justice to re-
mark, in strict reference to the locality, that, when he succeeded
to the estate of his uncle there, he found it covered by a number
of idle and disorderly peasants and fishermen, without employment
for themselves or their destitute families ; upon which he imme-
diately applied himself to incite their industry, usefully directed its
objects, and expended a large sum of his own money in building
'and furnishing the cotton works, and especially in the construc-
tion of a very ingenious water-mill. The auspicious expectations,
which those projects induced, were, however, too soon disappoint-
ed, and the consequent failure of the cotton trade here, as also at
Balbriggan and Prosperous, led to the most deplorable conse-
quences. Parliament had liberally contributed to the expenses of
the projectors and proprietors of those works at their outset, but
refusing a second grant, these persons became insolvent, and
crowds of artisans being suddenly dismissed from their employ-
ment, the various families, who, " a httle month" previously, had
exhibited a picture of regular and thriving industry, were devoted
to penury and idleness.

In 1814, the Board of First Fruits granted £800 in aid of
building the church here.

On the borders of the village* is SeaparkXourt,
finely situated, with a sloping and ornamental lawn in
front. It is a square building, of ample proportions,
having a flat roof concealed by a parapet that sur-

MALAHIDE. 197

rounds the whole structure, and was erected by Nicho-
las Morres, Esq. second son of Sir John Morres, of
Knockagh Castle, in the county Tipperary, who ob-
tained this portion of the manor on his marriage with
Susanna, eldest daughter of Richard Talbot of Mala-
hide Castle. It has, however, much declined from its
former appearance and the descriptions of more en-
thusiastic tourists. It may be mentioned, that the
above Nicholas was buried in the church of Malahide,
that one of his sons, Nicholas Morres, entered into the
service of France in Bulkeley's regiment, in 1733, of
which he became Lieutenant Colonel in 1756, and
died in 1796 at the Chateau d'Amboise, without
issue.

When the tourist has concluded his observation
of this interesting locality, let him return to the vene-
rable remains of its chapel. His eye will repose with
reverence on the ivy tendrils that flower over its walls ;
he will admire the singular complication of their
branches, the vivid hue of their leaves, the varying
sunshine scattered over them ; and, above all, the un-
worldly tenacity with which they cling to ruin ; and,
haply while he sits upon a monument, and not a sound
disturbs the solemn gloom, except when some scared
bird flits from the matted ivy, or a breeze murmurs
drowsily over the floor, and shakes the withered leaves
upon its surface, he too will recal the proud deeds of
those, with whom this locality has been from time
immemorial identifled.

198 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

The Family of Talbot.

The illustrious achieremeDts of this family are traced in the
history of every ctTiFized nation, and every where attach to them
the reverence justly conceded to a long line of ancestry, unsullied
hy the crimes that too frequently stain the annals of contempora-
neous houses. Even in the political vicissitudes of these countries
the Talbots have survived, both in England and Ireland, in baro-
nial rank, for upwards of seven centuries, and neither treasons nor
attainders have ever clouded their splendour.

Like most of the nobility of the British empire, they look to
Normandy for their origin, and claim, as their remote ancestors,
the Talbots, Barons of Cleuville, in the country of Caui. In
1066^ Hugh and Richard « Talebot" are enumerated amongst the
Norman knights attached to William the Conqueror, and so espe-
cially noticed both in Bromton's list and in the ancient Chronicle
of Normandy. The former appears to be the Ivo Taiibois, whom
the Conqueror enriched with the estate of Spalding and the ad-
joining country, while about the year 1070 Richard Talbot is
mentioned, in Domesday Book as holcHng nine hides of land of
£arl Waher Giffbrd, and Hereford Castle and other possessions
in Herefordshire, in capite, of the Conqueror. He had two sons,
Geoffrey and Hugh ; the former held twenty knights' fees in
Herefordshire in the time of Henry the First, and was a steady
supporter of the pretensions of the Empress Maud ; and from his
son William, who held Hereford Castle in the time of King Ste-
phen, descended the Talbots of Bashall and Thomhill, in York-
vhire. Hugh, the second son of Richard, was Governor of the
Castle of Plessy, in Normandy, in 1118, and married the daughter
of William de Mandeville, on whose decease he became a monk
in the celebrated monastery of Beaubec, in Normandy. He also
left a son Richard and other issue.

In the year 1 165, Richard, the son of the befbre-mentioned
Hugh, had a grant of the Lordship of Eccleswell and Linton, in
Herefordshire ; and, having long previously married the daughter
of William de Montgomery, had issue by her, three sons ; Gil-
bert, his heir. Lord of Eccleswell, and ancestor to the Earls of

THE FAMILY OP TALBOT. 199

Shrewsbury, and Richard and Robert Talbot, who, according to
Sir William Betham's pedigree of the family, accompanied King
Henry into Ireland, where Richard obtained the Lordship of Ma-
lahide as a fief of the crown as above mentioned, and in connexion
wilh which his descendants are traced in the foregoing pages.

About the year 1240, Gilbert Talbot, the descendant of Ri-
chard mentioned at 1165, having married Gundeline, daughter of
Rhys ap Griffith, Prince of Wales, changed hb ancient armorials
for those of that prince.

In 1259, the noble monastery of the Holy Trinity was founded
for monks of the order of £remites of St. Augustine, on the south
side of the Liffey, (where within this century stood the theatre in
Crow-street,) by the Talbots of Templeogue; and in 1262, Ri-
chard Talbo| was Archbishop of Dublin. See the ** Memoirs of
the Archbishops of Dublin."

In 1800, Richard Talbot, the son of Gilbert, mentioned at
1240, and Lord of Eccleewell, joined in the celebrated letter ad-
dressed to the Pope from Lincoln, on behalf of the Commons of
England, and in assertion of the King's right to the supreme do-
minion of the realm of Scotland.

In 131 1, John Talbot was summoned to attend the parliament
of Kilkenny ; and in 1315, Richard Talbot, the lineal descendant
in the fourth degree of the before-mentioned Richard of Malabide,
distinguished himself under the celebrated Lord John de Berming-
ham, afterwards Earl of Louth, in the service against Edward
Bruce, brother of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, who had in-
vaded Ireland, and overran and devastated the whole country,
until he was eventually slain, and his head sent to King Edward
the Second, in 1318. This Richard was afterwards, in 1329,
treacherously slain, with 200 noblemen and gentlemen, by the
gentry of the county Louth.

In 1322, Sir Gilbert Talbot, Banneret, of the county of Hert-
ford, and Sir Richard Talbot, junior, having adhered to the Earl
of Lancaster and the barons, attacked and burned the town of
Bridgenorth, whereupon the ^eriffs throughout England were com-
manded to raise the posse comitalus to take them. They were,
however, more gloriously captured in arms at the battle of Bo-
roughbridge ; but Gilbert was released on payment of the enor-

200 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

inous fine of £2000, and an engagement to deliver annuaUy to the
king one ton of wine, price forty shillings. In the same year ano-»
ther Sir Richard Talbot was summoned from Worcestershu-e to
do service against the Scots ; and soon afterwards another Sir
Gilbert was constituted Justice of South Wales, with a grant of
lands in that district.

In 1326, Richard Talbot was intrusted with the defence and
custody of Newcastle Mac Kinnegan, with a salary of £20 per
annum.

In 1334, Richard Talbot, ancestor of Lord Furnival, was one
of the English lords who joined Baliol, invaded Scotland by sea,
and routed the Scottish army at Gleddesmore. On BalioPs esta-
blishment, he was restored to lands in Scotland, which he claimed
in right of his wife, the heiress of John Comin, Lord of Bade-
noch ; while, by Edward the Third, he was, in 1338, made Go-
vernor of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and Justice there as well as within
all the king's lands in Scotland. In 1347 he was with Edward the
Third at the siege of Calais, where he had under his command
one baronet, fourteen knights, ninety-two esquires, and eighty-two
archers.

In 1352, Sir Thomas Talbot, of Malahide, had a grant from
the crown of exemption from serving on juries, or at assizes, or
executing the offices of sheriff, escheator, or other minister against
his will ; and was one of the knights summoned to the Irish parlia-
ments of 1373 and 1375 ; about which latter time Thomas Talbot
was Constable of the Castle of Arklow, in the heart of " the Irish
enemy ;" and in 1377 Reginald was ordered to aid in defending
the marches of the Pale in Ireland, with his available men at
arms. He was afterwards Sheriff of the county Dublin. Branches
of the family were at the same time established in the counties of
Carlow, Kilkenny, Louth, Wexford, and at Moyrath, in the county
Meath.

In 1373, Thomas Talbot, of the Bashall line, commanded the
castle and town of Berwick ; in 1389 was Constable of the Castle
of Guisnes, in Picardy ; and in 1406 was sent on service into Ire-
land. In 1379, Richard Talbot of Malahide was at the parlia-
ment, or rather council, convened to Baltinglas, for the purpose
of treating on terms of peace with the O'Byrnes, O'Tooles, O'No-

THE FAMILY OF TALBOT. 201

lans, and Mac Morroughs. He was afterwards sheriff of the county
Dublin.

In 1395, Richard, the son of Gilbert Tdbot, by Petronilla,
the sister of the Earl of Ormond, acquired the Lordship of Wex-
ford, with various liberties thereunto annexed. It was he who,
seeing how open and defenceless Kilkenny was on every side, and
willing to testify his respect for his uncle, who had then recently
become its proprietor, as well as to attach the townsmen to the
family, surrounded that city with a strong walL He had after-
wards a grant from the crown of the temporalities of the see of
Ferns, during its vacancy, rent free.

In 1414, when the realm seemed to sink under the compli-
cated oppression of war and faction, Sir John Talbot, Lord Fur-
nival, a man distinguished by mihtary abilities, was appointed to
the government of Ireland for the term of six years, with the ex-
traordinary power of appointing his own deputy when and as often
as he pleased. The most intrepid of the enemies of English go-
Ternment yielded to the influence of a character, which subsequent
events so strongly developed, and various indentures between him
and the Irish leaders, CConor, O'Brien, &c., yet extant in the
rolls of chancery, so strongly testify the fears which his presence
had then excited, as might almost justify the application of that
sentiment in this country, which Shakspeare attributes to the sor-
rowing mothers of France. Unattended, however, as he was by
any army, and obliged to rely upon the forces and supplies raised
in* Ireland, he pleaded necessity for recurring to the oppressive and
arbitrary impositions used by his predecessors. The English Pale^
it is true, was not enlarged by his exertions, but for the time it
was defended, and so considerable was such service deemed, that
the lords and commons in 1417 transmitted to the king the speak-
ing testimony as to the Irish mode of government, detailed in the
General History of this County. On being recalled from the go-
vernment of Ireland, he passed into France with the English army,
did signal service at the siege of Caen, but was not at Agincourt,
where, however, several of his name and kindred distinguished
themselves. In 1420 he entered Paris with King Henry the
Fifth in triumph, and on the accession of Henry the Sixth, enjoy-
ed the special favour of the Duke of Bedford, regent of France.

202 COUNTY or dublik.

In 1428 he had the command of the whole English army then in
France, but in the following year was defeated at Patay by the
Maid of Orleans, and himself taken prisoner, idthough he

* * above human thought
Enacted wonders with his sword and lance.**

nor was he released until 1433, a circumstance which evinces (hat he
had no participation in the least justifiable act of the regent's admi-
nistration, the putting to death a young, beautiful, and patriotic fe-
male, on charges the most vague and unfounded. On being re-
leased he reconquered the fort of Jouy, demolished the castle of
Beaumont, took and regarrisoned those of Creil and Pont de St.
Maixence. In 1438 he took those of Longueville, Guillemcourt,
&c. In 1441 he was appointed a marshal of France ; in the follow-
ing year was created Earl of Shrewsbury and Wexford, in which
right he appointed his seneschal for the liberty of Wexford ; in 1443
was one of the ambassadors to negotiate the peace with Charles the
Seventh; and in 1446 was created Earl of Waterford and Baron
of Dungarvan, with all castles, lordships, baronies, knight's fees,
advowsons of churches, wrecks of the sea from Youghal to Water-
ford, &c., to hold to him and his heirs male by homage, fealty,
and the service of being seneschal of the king and his heirs in his
land of Ireland. In the same year he was again lord lieutenant
of Ireland, and held a parliament at Trim«

In 1452 he appeared before Bourdeaux, was admitted by the
citizens, and on the 17th of July following, at their earnest solici-
tation, attacked the French army then lying before Castillon, on
the river Dordon. At first he was successful, but his horse being
killed, and himself immediately after, his force was beaten, and,
though the loss was not very great in the action, yet in its conse-
quences it induced the total severance of Guienne from the Bri-
tish dominions. The body of this, the English Achilles, was
brought back to his native country and interred in the abbey of
Whitchurch. His son John, Viscount Lisle, was also slain with
him in this engagement. Camden says, the sword of the father
was found in his time in the river Dordon, with the unclassical in-
scription—-

"SumTalboti,M IIU C XLIII,
Pro vincere inimicos meos."

THE FAMILY OP TALBOT. 203

*« How would it haTe joyod brave Talbot," exclaims Nash," " the
terror of the French, to think that, after be had been two hundred
years in his tombj he should triumph again on the stage, and have
his bones new embalmed with the tears often thousand spectators
at least, who in the tragedian that represents his person imagine
they behold him fresh bleeding.*^

Another Talbot, Sir Gilbert of Irchenfield and Bhurkmere in
Shropshire, was in 1418 made governor-general of the marches in
Normandy, and was joined in commission with Sir Gilbert Umfre-
viUe, to reduce M the forts and castles in that country to obe-
dience. According to the Chronicle of Kirkstall he died during
the siege of Rouen.

In 1443 Ridiard Talbot, brother of Lord Furnival, was Arch-
bishop of DubliU) and in the same year, on the death of Arch-
biehep Prene, was elected Primate of Armagh by its dean and
chapter, but decliaed the proffered dignity. See of him in the
<< Memours of the Archbishops of Dublin." His nephew. Sir John
Talboly the son of Lord Furnival, was in 1447 appointed Lord
Chanoellor of Ireland, with power to appoint a deputy, which he
exercised in 1452 in favour of Sir Thomas Talbot, prior of Kil-
oiainham. His elder brother, the second Earl of Shrewsbury, was
no less involved than his father had been in the turmoil of war.
He had accompanied that &ther both in France and Ireland, and
when he was slain at Castillon, the second Earl was appointed by
parliasoent one of the guardians of the sea. In 1456 he was made
Lodrd Treasurer of England, and in 1460, having adhered to the
House of Lancaster, was slain at the battle of Northampton, as
was abo his third son, Sir Christopher Talbot.

John, the third Earl of Shrewsbury, was at the second battle
of St. Albans, and was knighted by Prince Edward. To his
youBger brother, Gilbert Talbot, Henry the Seventh, in the com-
mencement of his reign, granted the fine seat of Grafton, in Wor-
cestershire, which had been forfeited by Sir Humphrey Stafford,
an attainted Yorkist. The king, in further testimony and reward
of hia bravery and prudence, made him a Knight of the Garter,
and Governor of Drokwich, in France. It appears that this Gil-
bert manifested his attachment for Henry by joining him at New-
port, when on his way from Shrewsbury to Bosworth, « with the

204 COUNTY OF DUBLm.

whole power," says Hall, who erroneously caHs him George, " of
the young Earl of Shrewsbury, then being in ward, which were
accounted to the number of 2000 men." According to Hohnshed,
he commanded on that day the right wing of the victorious army.
In the same year he was sheriff of Shropshire. His nephew
George, fourth Earl of Shrewsbury, appeared in person at the
battle of Stoke ; and in 1490 had a command in the detachment
that was sent in aid of Maximilian the Emperor, against Charles
King of France. In 1513 he commanded the van of the English
army at the siege of Therouenne ; in 15^0 was present at the
memorable interview between the kings of England and France,
on the "field of the cloth of gold ;" and in 1523, being then
Lieutenant General of the North, he made some inroads into
Scotland.

In 1537, by the Irish Act of Absentees, which recited the rui-
nous consequences occasioned by the absence of persons having
lands in Ireland, and that previous statutes had imposed the for-
feiture of two-thirds of the income of such absentees, and that the
other third should be forfeited for mesne rates, George Talbot,
Earl of Waterford and Salop, was declared one of that class, and
his Irish estates- were accordingly thereby vested in the crown, with
savings, however, for the boroughs of Ross, Wexford, &c.

In 1538, Peter Talbot had a grant in fee fi'om the crown, of
the manors and castles of Powerscourt, Fassaroe, and Rathdown,
which, however, in 1540, he was induced, or rather compelled, by
the authority of the crown to surrender. About this time flou-
rished Robert Talbot, of the Grafton line, one of the earliest
English antiquaries, and whose collections proved greatly servicea-
ble to Leland, Bale, Caius, Camden, and others. His manuscripts
are now in the library of Rennet's College, Cambridge.

In 1553, Francis, Earl of Shrewsbury, was appointed Lord
President of the Council in the North, and in 1557, Captain Ge-
neral there. George, the sixth Earl, was one of the most upright as
well as able statesmen of his age ; he was of the Council of Queen
(Mary, and exhibited an instance remarkable in those days of jea-
lousy and dbtrust, of equal favour from her successor, who chose
him to fill the same station, and afterwards appointed him to the
dangerous office of holding Mary Queen of Scotland in custody

THE FAMILY OF TALBOT. 205

at Chatsworth, which trust he fulfilled for seventeen years. There,
too, he entertained the Earl of Leicester, for \vhich he received
an autograph letter from the queen, in 1577. Though he may
thus be said to have guided three females, nay three queens, he
was unequal to the government of his own wife ; and he, to whom
the proud daughters and the niece of Henry the Eighth submitted
their judgment, was subject to the intolerable caprice of an ambi-
tious and self-willed woman, who, not content with having induced
him to settle vast property on the children of her third husband,
the Cavendishes, to the prejudice of his own, intermeddled with
state affairs, and boldly released him from his superintendence of
the captive princess by a suggestion of jealousy, which might have
cost the earl his head. Several of his letters, relative to the Scot-
tish queen, are to be found in Lodge's Illustrations of English
History.

The youngest daughter of Gilbert, seventh Earl of Shrews-
bury, was, at the request of Queen Elizabeth, her godmother,
named Alethea, << out of her Majesty's true consideration and
judgment of that worthy family, which was ever true to the state."
In 1580 flourished Thomas Talbot, an eminent antiquary, and son
of John Talbot, of Salebury, in Lancashire.

In 1613 William Talbot was one of the most strenuous of the
agents despatched to his Majesty by the Irish Recusants, for
which he was afterwards committed to the Tower of London,
where he suffered a long imprisonment, and, before he was per-
mitted to return to Ireland, was mulcted by the Star Chamber
of England in the enormous fine of £10,000.

In 1617 died Edward Talbot, eighth Earl of Shrewsbury, to
whose memory a splendid monument is erected in St. Edmund's
. chapel, Westminster Abbey. On his decease, the first line of the
Earls of Shrewsbury having become extinct, John Talbot of
Longford, near Newport, the fifth in degree from Sir Gilbert
Talbot, mentioned as having commanded at Bosworth-field,' suc-
ceeded to the title, which he transmitted to the present earl.

In 1630 Francis Talbot passed patents for upwards of 25,000
acres in the county of Wexford, and became the founder of the
families of Castle Talbot and Talbot Hall. The name was also
established in the counties of Monaghan, Cavan, and Wicklow.

206 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

In 1638 Gilbert Talbot, of the Worcestershire Ime, was, bj his
Majesty sent envoy to the republic of Vbnice. He was after-
wards a sufferer in the civil wars, but subsequently obtained thd
honour of knighthood, became master of the jewel house, and was
one of the first twenty-one appointed of the council of the Royal
Society on its first institution.

In December, 1641, John Talbot, of Robertstown, was one of
the gentlemen of the Pale who assembled at Swords, on the re*
quisition of Luke Netterville ; relying, however, on the king^s
proclamation of pardon to all who would come in and submit, he
and omiy others of the principal gentry of the Pale immediately
accepted the royal invitation, but the puritan Justices, seeing that
this submission, if allowed to become too general, would defcfit
their expectation of forfeitures, resolved to put an effectual termi-
nation to it, and accordingly indicted Mr. Talbot and the others
as traitors, for having conversed with some rebels, even when the
rebels were masters of the country, and they wrote to Ormonde
that very many of the best rank were endeavouring to make sub-
missions, but that the state had been too indulgent to the Irish in
former ages since the conquest ; that, if the governors of Ireland
had been careful to improve the frequent opportunities offered to
them by rebellions, they would have prevented all future atteu^ts ;
that rebels should not be allowed to wipe out their crimes by sub-
missions, and that, therefore, they hoped his Ms^esty would make
such settlement throughout the whole kingdom as King James
had done in Ulster.* Mr. Talbot, therefore, and all those who
had so submitted, were thrown into prison, and some of them put
to the rad^ to extort such confessions as might enable them, says
Carte, « to impeach all the Catholic gentlemen in the kingdom,
and particularly those of the Pale, whose lands were best im-
proved, with being concerned in the rebellion."

In 1642 Henry Talbot, member of parliament for the bo-
rough of Newcastle in Ireland, was expelled from the house on
account of his royalist principles; at which time, Garrett Talbot,
brother of Sir Robert Talbot, was campaigning under Lord Cas-

• Carte's Life of Ormond, vol. i. p. 292.

THE FAMILY OF TALBOT. 207

tlehaven in Monster, while in Ei^Uind, in 1644^ Mr. Edward
Talbot, brother of the Earl of Shrewsbury, was shun at Marston
Moor, fighting for Charles the Fhst, and in 1645^ Sir Gilbert
Talbot, after an ineffectual defence of Tiverton, of which he was
governor, was, wkh the garrison, taken prisoner by General
FairfiM.

Id 1646v Sir Robert Talbot was one of the commissioners for
the Irish on the occasion of the Articles of Peace between them
and the Marquis of Ormond. His signature, and those of James
Talbot of Templeogue, and Colonel Gilbert Talbot, appear to
the celebrated *^ Protestation and Remonstrance of the Roman
Catholic Nobility and Gentry of Ireland," alluded to in the *^ Me*
moirs of the Archbishops of Dublin.'' In 1664^ a petition, nume-
rously signed by the noblemen and gentry of Ireland, for the
remuneration of the above Sir Robert Talbot, was presented to
the crown, and it would appear that the Lord Lieutenant was
thereupon ordered to authorize the assessment thereof.

In the time of the Commonwealth, Sherington Talbot of
Worcestershire, a zealous royalist, was obliged to compound for
his estate with the Parliament Committee for the sum of £2,01 1,
while> in testimony of the acknowledged attachment of this family
to the iStuart cause, Charles, the twelfth Earl of Shrewsbury, who
was born in 1660, had the distinguished honour of being the first
sul^^ect to whom Charles the Second was sponsor, after his resto-
rattqji.

In 1665, Sir Henry Talbot had a grant of hmds in Connaught,
in exchange for certain estates of his adjoining to the castle of
Dublin, and convenient for his Majesty's service-— Of Doctor
Peter Talbot, see the ^ Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dublin.''

In May, 1672, his brother Colonel Richard Talbot, was captured
with several others by the Dutch in their attack on the Engli^ fleet
in Solebay. In 1686, he was elevated to the titles and honours of
Lord Baron of Talbotstown, Viscount of Baltinglas, and Earl of
Tyrcoaoel, to hold to him and his heirs male, with remainders
over to his nephews, Sir William Talbot of Cartown, and William
Tdbet of Haggardstown, in tail male, and in four years afterwards
was created Marquis and Duke of Tyrconnel. His history is
that of the reign in which he flourished. He was married to the

208 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

beautiful Miss Jennings, sister to the Duchess of Marlborough,
who, on her lord's decease, obtained permission to erect a nun-
nery for poor Clares, in King-street, Dublin, where in obscure
retirement she closed her days at the advanced age of ninety-two,
and was buried in St. Patrick's cathedraL The convent, though
no longer used as such, is still standing. In the civil wars of
1688, this nobleman forfeited considerable estates in Ireland, as
did also Sir William Talbot in the city of Limerick, George Tal-
bot in the county Roscommon, James Talbot in the said county
of Roscommon, and in the county and city of Dublin.

In 1689, Colonel Talbot was one of those taken prisoner at
the siege of Derry, as was Brigadier Marks Talbot at the battle
of Aughrim, both fighting for the cause of James the Second.

Charles Talbot, the twelfth Earl of Shrewsbury, before alluded
to, was lord chamberlain of the household to King James the Se-
cond, he subsequently, however, resigned the command of a regi-
ment in his service, mortgaged his estate, and espoused the politics
and succession of the Prince of Orange. For which, and many
good offices performed, he was made principal secretary of state
and knight of the garter ; he was also appointed commissioner of
the court of claims, bore one of the swords at the coronation, and
was at one and the same time lord Ueutenant of three counties,
Hertfordshire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire. In 1694 he
was created Marquis of Alton and Duke of Shrewsbury, and is
described as having possessed no ordinary measure of learning, a
correct judgment, and a placid demeanour, which insensibly attach-
all who knew him, qualities that with his general popularity induced
King William to give him the epithet of " The King of Hearts."
In 1713 he filled three posts which no single individual had
ever occupied before — those of lord lieutenant of Ireland, lord
high treasurer of Great Britain, and lord chamberlain of the house-
hold. His administration in Ireland was honourable to himself
and beneficial to the country. " I come here," he took an early
occasion to observe, <^ not to be of any party, but to administer jus-
tice equally to all, to serve the queen, and to protect her subjects
in their liberty." During a contested election in Dublin, when the
Tories, as a mark of distinction, wore laurels in their hats, he ad-
mitted no one to his levees who carried this or any other badge of

THE FAMILY OP TALBOT. 209

dissen^on. His reward, as has been too frequently the result^f
such impartiality, was the distrust of each party, and the abuse of
both. He was openly ridiculed in satires and lampoons, and, in
allusion to a personal defect, was insulted on the very walls of the
Castle by the nickname of " Polyphemus,'* or « Ireland's Eye."

In 1722 William Talbot, of the Grafton line, was promoted to
the bishopric of Durham, of which county he was also made lord
lieutenant and custos rotulorum. His eldest son, Giarles Talbot,
was in 1733 constituted lord high chancellor of England, and
created a baron of Great Britain, by the title of Lord Talbot, Ba-
ron of Hensol, in the county of Glamorgan. It has been said of
him, "that eloquence never afforded greater charms from any
orator, than when public attention listened to his sentiments, deli-
vered with the most graceful modesty, nor did wisdom and know-
ledge ever support it with more extensive power, nor integrity
enforce it with greater weight." Malkin, in his work on South
Wales, relates of him, that riding unattended in that county by
the bank of a river, near Hensol, which he wished to cross, he
inquired of a countryman whether it was fordable there ; the rustic
nodded assent, but not in a manner that fully satisfied Lord Talbot,
who repeated the question in Welch, when the man with much
emotion exclaimed, '< Oh no, for heaven's sake do not attempt it ;
it is very dangerous ; come with me and I will shew you the ford.
— ^I took you for a Saxon 1"

The Honourable and Reverend James Talbot, fourth son of
George, the thirteenth E^rl of Shrewsbury, by the daughter of
Lord Fitzwilliam, was educated some time at Paris, and after-
wards at the College of Douay, where he received orderS| and took
the degrees of Bachelor and Licentiate of Divinity. About the
year 1759 he was consecrated Bishop of Birtha, ^^inpartihus in*
JideUum^^ and appointed vicar apostolic over the Roman Catholics
in the London district, comprehending most of the southern coun-
ties, the body of the English Roman Catholics being divided into
four districts since some time before the Revolution, over each of
which an apostolical vicar presides. He resided during the greater
portion of his life at Hammersmith, and died there in 1790 at a
very advanced age. In 1782 Richard Talbot was one of the four
delegates of the province of Leinster who entered into the resolu-

210 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

tion — " That the addresses of the Irish parliament having dis-
claimed any power or authority of any sort whatsoever in the par-
liament of Great Britain over this realm, we shall consider a repeal
of the sixth of George the First by the British parliament, made
in pursuance of the said addresses, a complete renunciation of all
the claims contained in the said statute, and as such we will ac-
cept it and deem it satisfactory." In 1797 the fort of Irois, in
the West Indies, was gallantly defended by Lieutenant Talbot of
the 82nd Regiment, who, however, died of the wounds received
on that occasion. In 1805 Captain John Talbot of the Leandcr,
retook that vessel, and captured the Ville de Milan, and in 1812,
as commander of the Victorious he captured the Rivoli, after a
severe action, in consequence of which he was created a Knight of
the Bath.

In 1810 Neil Talbot, brother of the present Lord Talbot dp
Malahide, was killed at Ciudad Rodrigo, where he commanded as
Lieutenant- Colonel of the 14th Light Dragoons. His lordship
has also a brother, Thomas Talbot, member of the senate of Up-
per Canada, and colonel of the militia of that province. In 1831
Lady Margaret Talbot, their mother, was created Baroness Talbot
de Malahide and Lady Malahide of Malahide for her life, with re-
mainder on her decease to these her heirs male, in right of which
limitation the present lord now enjoys the dignity.

Other particulars of the Irish line, not enumerated in this me-
moir, will be found in the above sketch of Malahide, and in other
parts of this << History," as directed in the General Index.

After passing the pretty cottage of Mrs. Clare at
right, the road from Malahide to the metropolis pre-
sents in its outset a noble and extensive view of the
northern parts of the county. At the village of Yel-
low Walls, a road turns to the right over a little rivu-
let to Swords, and opens upon the sea. Its boundary
ditch, on the day of observation, presented the infant
wild strawberry, and the earliest primroses of spring.
Near it, on the lands of Mantua, may be seen the re-

FELTRIM. 211

mains of an ancient fort, close to which is Seaiown,
formerly the estate of Christopher Russell, and for*
feited by him in 1641.

Turning from the Dublin road to a hill at right,
the tourist will reach the interesting scene of

FELTRIM,

a village at the foot of a hill, that commands an ex-
tensive and beautiful prospect over the sea imd the
whole country of Fingal, with the expanse of the bay
and the Rochestown and Wicklow hills beyond it.
On its summit is a large windmill, a very conspicuous
object from every direction j near which are some
ruins of the ancient residence of the Fagan family,
long the proprietors of the district, and to whose ge-
nerosity the place was probably indebted for its name,
i. e. the hill of hospitality. They held it, however,
as of the manor of Malahide. The fee is now in
Captain Sever, an absentee.

The rent of land here is about four guineas per
acre j the labourer's wages, sixteen pence per day. Its
soil rests on mountain limestone, and the quarries
present numerous organic remains.

Its tithes, the extent and value of which are defined by an in.
quisition of 1547, were, with those of Drjnamy Nevinstown,
Brownstown, &c. early appropriated to the Economy of St. Pa.
trick's.

In the reign of Elizabeth, when the unfortunate Earl of
Desmond was a prisoner of state, his health requiring country
air, the custody of his person was consigned to Christopher Fagan,
of Feltrim, who magnanimously informed the government, that,
as his guest, the earl was most welcome to diet and lodging at his

212 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

house^ but that he should never become bis keeper. Desmond,
in such liberal guardianship, was permitted to walk abroad on his
parol, a privilege which he abused, and effected his escape into
Munster, where, entering soon after into open rebellion, he was
treacherously murdered by some of his own followers.

This hill, now covered with furze and brushwood, was then
darkened by a venerable forest ; yet amidst its romantic rocks
and the everlasting scenery that surrounds it, associations con-
nected with the above event seemed to rise from the soil, and
fill the memory with the national inflictions of that period. The
vision of the captive Desmond appeared environed by those
English knights who, early in the reign of Elizabeth, when unable
to equip themselves for the distant spoliation of the then newly dis-
covered world, besought their gracious sovereign to license an
expedition and invasion of Ireland ; doubtless urging, that it would
initiate all who undertook it in the glorious labours of civilizing a
savage and converting a superstitious' nation, — an apprenticeship
of Buccaneers, which the queen was induced to legitimate, — and
"in consideration thereof" the novices modestly covenanted to
remit to the Englbh treasury about a groat per annum, for every
acre of their acqubitions, in which faithful promises originated
their cognomen of "undertakers."

The palatinate of Desmond was the great object of this guilty
confederacy ; while, in truth, extending as it did over one hundred
and fifty miles of territory in the province of Munster, and com-
prising upwards of half a million of acres, over which the earl
claimed and exercised an exclusive and uncontrolled jurisdiction,
its continuance in such a state seemed to justify the political ap-
prehensions of the English government. The history, however,
of this campaign, and the consequent confiscation and allotment of
a province, are wholly beyond the scope of the present work ; and
it shall only be remarked, what many perhaps who read these
pages will learn with surpnse, that amongst these adventurers
were the accomplished Sir Walter Raleigh and Edmund Spenser,
the author of the " Faerie Queen."

The Christopher Pagan, alluded to as having entertained Des-
mond here, had been in 1573 Lord Mayor of the city of Dublin ;
and it is of him, although erroneously styled " Nicholas" Pagan,

FELTRIM. 213

Holinshed sayS) << There hath been of late Worshipful ports kept
by Master Fyan, who was twice mayor, Master Segrave, Tho-
mas Fitz Simons, Robert Cusack, Walter Cusack, Nicholas Fagan^
and others, and not only their officers so hr excel in hospitality,
but also the greater part of the civity b generally addicted to such
ordinary and standing houses, as it would make a man muse which
way they are able to bear it out, but only by the goodness of God,
which is the upholder and furtherer of hospitality. What should
I here speak of their charitable alms daily and hourly extended to
the needy. The poor prisoners, both of the Newgate and the
Castle, with three or four hospitals, are chiefly, if not only relicTed
by the citizens. Furthermore, there are so many other extraor-
dinary beggars that daily swarm there, so charitably succoured, as
that they make the whole civitie in effect their hospital."

In 1611, John Fagan passed fresh patent for the town and
lands of Feltrim, a mill and 240 acres, Effemock, 54 acres,
Mabestown, 106 acres, kc. ; all which he had inherited from his
father Richard ; but John's descendant, Christopher, forfeited
these paternal estates in Cromwell's time, to which, however, he
was restored in 1663, by a decree of the Court of Claims, adjudg-
ing him an innocent Papist, and giving him his former possessions
in tail male, including the above lands, as also others in Coolock,
Bullock, Dalkey, and considerable estates in Lusk, of all which he
died so seised in 1682, and which, together with about 1400 acres
in the barony of Duleek, were wholly forfeited by his son Richard
in the confiscations of 1688. On that event, and on the death of
his brother Peter without issue, his sister, Lady Strabane, having
previously, in 1684, obtained a grant of the reversion of these es-
tates expectant on the old entail, to her son Claude, Lord Aber-
corn, they would have vested accordingly in his family, but appear
to have been reassumed by the crown.

The ancient residence here was one of the numerous localities,
named as having received the unfortunate James the Second in
his flight from the Boyne, and the chamber was at no very remote
period confidently shewn, where he passed the weary hours of one
wretched night.

In 1699, the trustees of the forfeited estates complained in an
official Report, that so hasty had been several of the grantees or

214 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

their agents in the disposition of the forfeited woods, that vast
numbers of trees had been cut and sold for not above 6J. a-piece ;
and in particular, they stated that the Uke waste was still continu-
ing on the lands of Feltrim, within six miles of Dublin, and the
woods of 0*Shaughhe8sy in the county of Galway.

in 1703, Folliottl9herigley had a grant of the town and lands
of Feltrim, Effernock, and MabestowH, $25 acres, « the estate of
Richard Pagan, attainted ;^ and in 1728, this denoitiination was
returned as comprising 221 acres, of which the tithes of com and
hay were stated to be payable to the economy fund of St. Patrick's
cathedral. Inimedtately after ^hich, the lands passed into the
possession of the Bever family, whose descendant, Edward Bever
of Felttim, was enabled by a private act of parliament in 1760 to
make leases thereof, and otherwise to charge the premises.^ — At
this tone Hoffsl^er had his celebrated flower-garden here.

AboBt Feltrim the botanist will find fedia den-
tata, oval-fruited com salad ; agrostis vulgaris^ com-
mon bent grass ; jasione montanay common sheep's
bit ; sedum acre, wall pepper ; agrimonia eupatoria^
Bgrimony igaJeopsis ladanum, red hemp nettle; a
variety of the thymus serpf/llum^ wild thyme with
white flowers ; draba vernaj common whitlow grass ;
geranium columbinurrij long-stalked crane's-bill ; ge-
ranivm lucidunij shining crane's-bill ; polygala vuU
gam» .milkwort ; poterium sanguisorba, salad bumet;
S€unjraga tridactyletes^ rue-leaved saxifrage, flower-
ing in May ; fedia olitorta, lamb's lettuce, flowering
from April to June j allium arenarium^ sand garlic.
On the adjacent lands a variety of the gakopsis
tetrahit^ common hempbane with white flowers ; or-
chis viridis, frog orchis ; plantago media, hoary
plantain. — On the rocks, arabis hirsuta, hairy wall

cress ; urceolaria contortaj ; and in the hedges,

trifolium officinale, mclilot.

THE FAMILY OF FAGAN. 215

Between this place and Swords, is a holy well,
dedicated to St. Wereburghe, a saint of the seventh
age, daughter of Wilfere, King of Mercia. " In her,"
as her biographers write, ^'was mingled the royal
blood of all the chief Saxon kings, but her glory was
the contempt of a vain world even from her cradle,
on the pure motion of the love of God.*'

The Family of Faoan,

so intimately connected with this locality, is of high antiquity in
Ireland, and much distinguished in its annals, as well as in the
history of other countries.

In the year 1022, died Flan CVFagan, archdean of Durrow in
the King's County, « a man in real estimation for goodness, wis-
dom, and exempkry piety." In the thirteenth century the name
was established as one of tenure in Meath, as the ancient denomi-
nations of Faganstown and Derry-Fagan testify ; and there the
Pagans early connected themselves with the de Lacys ; the Plun-
ketts, ancestors of the Earls of Louth; the Barnewalb of Cricks-
town, ancestors of the Viscounts Kingsland, and the Barons of
Turvey and Trimlestown. About the year 1275, Nicholas de
Hynteberg and others confirmed to Sir Robert Bagod a certain
stone house with all its appurtenances of wood and stone, situated
within the walls of the city of Dublin, and in the parish of St.
Martin near St. Werburgh's gate, which had been theretofore the
land of William Fagan, together with a certain tower beyond said
gate.

bk ldd4> Richard Fagan had a pension of twenty marks charged
on the treasury of Ireland, in consideration of hisgood services against
O'Reilly and Bermingham, and in 1343 had a further grant of
part of the lands forfeited by his father-in-law, Sir Hugh de Lacy,
for the term of his own life and that of his son John. This John
was in 1358 high sheriff of the liberties of Meath, and in 1373
was appointed governor of the castle of Trim. In 1402 Nicholas
Fagan was one of two commissioners deputed to collect state sup-
plies in the barony of Morgallion, and in 1423 Sir John Fagan was

210 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

constituted high sheriff of the liberties of Meath, and receif^ a
writ of mandamus to muster the forces of his district, in order to
repel the incursions of the O'Conors and O'Reillys, " the avowed
enemies of the English Pale.** His son, Richard Pagan, was in
1457 high sheriff of the liberties ofMeath, and in the following
year obtained a pension of twenty marks, on account of the heavy
expenses he had sustained in the king's service during his employ-
ment.

Christopher Pagan, the representative of the Meath line and
the inheritor of their estates, was involved in the civil wars that
arose in Ireland during the reign of Henry the Seventh, and in par-
ticular in the assertion of Perkin Warbeck's title to the crown.
This Christopher was (with as it is said four of his sons) slain at
the siege of Carlow, and having been attainted, his estates were
on inquisition of 1494 ascertained, and subsequently granted over
to the Aylmers, Barnewalls, and other nobles of the Pale. John,
the youngest son of Christopher, escaped the fotal field where his
father and his brothers perished, and flying to Cork, intermarried
about the year 1514 with the daughter of William Skiddy of
Skiddy's Castle, by whom he had Thomas Pagan, afterwards one
of the citizens of Cork, who not only opposed the proclaiming of
King James, and the entrance of the Lord Mountjoy into the
city, but even took forcible possession of Skidd/s Castle.

To return to the Hne of Christopher, — his eldest son Richard,
who fell with him at Carlow, left a son, Thomas Pagan, who ac-
quired the estate of Peltrim, and had two sons, Christopher and
Richard; the former was one of the sheriffs of the city of Dubhn
in 1565, and again in 1573, as was the latter in 1575, and Lord
Mayor in 1567. In 1604 this Richard obtained a pardon of
alienation for himself and his son and heir John Pagan of Peltrim,
and dying in 1609, was buried in the family vault at SU Audeon's.
John intermarried with Alicia, the daughter of Walter Segrave,
by whom he had issue four sons. A short time after the decease
of his father he surrendered his estates to the Crown, and not
only obtained a new grant thereof by letters patent in 1611, but
also got a grant of several lands in the county of Wexford in 1637.
His eldest son, Richard, intermarried with Eleanor Pagan, the
heiress of the Meath estates, by which event all the estates of the

THE FAMILY OP PAGAN. 217

Fagan family vested in the house of Feltrim. By her he had
Christopher Pagan who succeeded thereto, but was declared a
forfeiting proprietor during the civil wars of 1641. On proofs
however, of his innocence, he was in 1670 decreed to the posses-
sion thereof, qualified into an estate in tail male. The other three
sons of John Pagan were Thomas and George, who both died
umnarraed, and John, who became the founder of the Munster
line, the last representatives of the Pagans of Feltrim.

Early in the seventeenth century, branches of the family were
settled in the county Carlow ; while in 1617 died the learned
Nicholas Fagan, whom the Pope had preferred from the abbey
of Inislaunaght, to the see of Waterford. He was interred in the
religious house over which he had presided.

In 1666, Patrick Pagan preferred his memorial to the Court
of Claims, as a soldier, for certain lands in the county Louth
enumerated in hb petition and schedule ; and in 1682 died Chris-
topher Fagan, as mentioned in the notice of << Feltrim,'' leaving
two sons, Richard and Peter, and a daughter, Elizabeth, who in-
termarried with Claude, the fourth Lord Strabane. Richard was
a zealous adherent of King James the Second, and distinguished
himself at the siege of Derry, as commemorated in the quaint
lines on the subject :

" Bellew left Duleek, and his ancient hall,

To see bis monarch righted,
Fagan of Feltrim, with Fingal

His cavalry united ;
Twas part of the plan, that Lord Strabane

Should give his neighbours warning.
But they packed him off with a shot and a acoffp

His hollow counsel scorning,*' &c. &c.

Richard also fought for the Stuart at the battle of Aughrim, and
consequently forfeited all his estates. He left three daughters by
his wife Eleanor Aylmer, of Lyons, one of whom, Helen, was mar-
ried, as mentioned hereafter, to John Taylor of Swords ; another^
Mary, to John Eustace, of Confee Castle; and the third, Anne,
died unmarried. Peter, the younger brother, is noticed at " St.
Doulogh's ;" he died without issue.

218 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

In the charter of King James the Second to Old Leighlin, iu
1688, Hugh Fagan was named one of the burgesses, as was Richard
Fagan in that granted in the ensuing year to Swords, and the same
monarch, in 1690^ presented the Re?. James Fagan to the vicar-
ages of Dowestown and Castlecor.

To revert to John, son of John Fagan and Alice AyLner, be-
fore mentioned aa the founder of the Munster line, he married
Bell, daughter of William Knowles, of Waterford, and died about
the yeiur 1683, leaving three sons, William, Christopher, and
James. . The latter passed after the RevoUition into the Spanish
service, where he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
William, the eldest son, died without issue, leaving all of his pro-
perty that escaped confiscation in 1689, (for he too espoused the
cause of James the Second,) to his next brother, Christopher, who
had also adhered to the same cause, was a captain in Lord Ken-
mare's regiment of infantry, fought at Aughrim, was comprised in
the capitulation of Limerick in 1691, and retired thence, at the
invitation of Lord Kenmare, to the county Kerry, where he died
in 1740, leaving issue, Patrick Fagan^ and other sons. Patrick
died in 1770, leaving a very numerous family, some of whom have
signalized themselves in various quarters of the globe. Christo-
pher, the eldest, entered the French service, became a chevalier
of the order of St. Louis, and a very distinguished officer, and died
in London, in 1816, without issue. Stephen, the second son, was
an eminent merchant in Cork, and died in 1811, leaving issue as
hereafter mentioned. Robert Fagan, the third son of Patrick,
became a merchant at St. Kitt's ; and his son Christopher is now
Adjutant-General in the India service. Another son, James, be-
came Quartermaster-General at Grenada, where he was killed in
a duel. A fifth, John, left issue — two sons ; George, who became
Adjutant-General in India, and Christopher, a Brigadier- General.
Stephen, the second son of Patrick, above alluded to, left two
sons, Patrick and James ; the former, by his wife, Miss Hussey, of
Dingle, left several children, the eldest of whom, Doctor Stephen
Fagan, appears to be now the representative of the Fagan family ;
while James, by his wife, Ellen Theresa Trant, left two sons, Wil-
liam and Charles, and two daughters, Eliza and Susan. The elder
brother of this line, William Fagan, is settled as a merchant in

KIN8ALY. 219

Corky intermarried in 1827 with Mary, the only daughter of Charles
Addis, of London, and by her has issue, sons and daughters.

In 1809, Robert Fagan, Esq. was appointed British Consul in
Sicily and Malta. He resided in Italy for several years, during
which, by frequent exfodiations and searches in the neighbourhood
of Rome, he discovered many articles of value. In 1816, how-
ever, he fell into a desponding state while at that city, and threw
himself from a window, of which fall he died. In 1810, Lieutenant
< Fegan' of the Royal Marines distinguished himself in the action
against the French squadron in the Bay of Naples ; and in 1815
General Fagan did signal service in India.

From Feltrim the line of this excursion crosses
the little river, before noticed as emptying into the
sea at Portmamock, and enters

KINSALY,

a parish comprising 2,129a. 3r. 27p. in the one
denomination, with a population of 503 Catholics
and 58 Protestants. It is in the Catholic union of
Howth. A Mr. Cooper is the principal proprietor
of the fee j the rent varies from £3 to £4 per acre,
the wages of labour being at most sixteen pence per
day, in some instances less.

The old church is at a little distance from the
present village, on the road to Portmamock, and
south of the pure, limpid stream that runs between
them. It exhibits some picturesque, ivied ruins of
nave and chancel with a double-belfried gable, sur-
rounded by ancient trees. There are no monuments
in or about this ruin worthy of notice. In the vil-
lage of Kinsaly is a handsome modern chapel, adja-
cent to which is a poor school, supported by the pro-

220 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

duce of sermons and private contributions, and usu-
ally attended by about 120 children.

Previous to tbe English invasion Kinsaly was in the possession
of Hamund Fitz Torkaiil, a Dane, and Henry the Second ex-
pressly recognised his right on condition of his paying annually
two marks to find lights for the holy rood (i. e. the holy cross)
of Christ Church in Dublin. Strongbow afterwards gave Kinsaly
absolutely to Christ Church for the same use,* which grant was
confirmed by Archbishop Laurence O'Toolein 1178; accordingly
in a bull of Pope Urban of the year 1186, it is specially named in
the enumeration of the landed possessions of that priory.

At this early period a church was founded here dedicated to
St. Nicholas, and made one of the exterior chapeb subservient to
the mother church of Swords, being granted by Archbishop Luke,
together with all its tithes, and sundry other profits and emolu-
ments, to the vicar of that parish.f

St. Nicholas of Pinara, Bishop of Myra, the patron of Kinsaly,
and especially regarded as the patron of school children, was born
at Patara, in Lycia. From his infancy he was inured to the exer-
cises of devotion, penance, and perfect obedience. He was chosen
Archbishop of Myra, and in that exalted station became celebrated
for his extraordinary piety and zeal. Hospinian attributes the in-
vocation of St. Nicholas by sailors to a miracle —

" Cum turbine nauts
Deprensi Cilices magno clamore vocarent,
Nicolai viventis opem^ descendere quinam
Coelitum visus sancti sub imagine patris.
Qui freta depulso fecit placidissima vento/'|

Armstrong, speaking of Ciudadella, mentions that near the en-
trance of the harbour stands a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas,
to which the sailors that have suffered shipwreck resort, in order
to return thanks for their preservation, and to hang up votive pic-
tures representing the dangers they have escaped, a custom which

• Reg. Christ Church, f Allen's Reg. t Hosp. de Festis, 153.

KINSALY. 221

the classical scholar will recognise as derived from the older times
of Rome —

** Me, tabula sacer
Votiv^ paries indicat uvida,
Suspendisse potenti
Vestimenta maris Deo."

St. Nicholas died in 843, and his festival is kept on the 6th of
December.

In 1200 Amori de Nugent gave to the prior of Christ Church
an acre of land in Maine, near Kinsaly, soon after which a claim
was set up by the heir of that Elias Comyn (before mentioned at
Portmarnock) to a part of Kinsaly ; but the prior of Christ Church,
to quiet his possession, agreed to pay him 100^. annually in the
abbey of St. Augustine in Bristol.

In 1337 King Edward confirmed the grant of Kinsaly, with its
appurtenances, to the see of Dublin, as did King Richard in 1395.
— For a notice of its tithes in 1489, see at " Swords."

On inquisition of 1576 John Talbot was found seised in fee
of a house and one hundred and twenty acres of land in this parish,
which he held from the dean and chapter of the Holy Trinity, by
fealty and twenty-five shillings annual rent. Sir John Perceval be-
came subsequently entitled to a certain corody out of the lands of
Kinsaly, secured to him by a royal letter of about the year 1666.*

In the seventeenth century Andrew Golding was seised of the
manor of Kinsaly, a mansion-house, ten messuages, and two hun-
dred acres, which he held under the dean and chapter of Christ
Church. The interest of that family having been forfeited by his
heir, Richard Golding, in 1641,t Lord Kingston in 1669 obtained
a grant of the town and lands, 386 acres plantation measure, to
hold in free and common soccage.

For a notice of Kinsaly in 1697, see " Swords."

In 1703 Thomas Tilson of Dublin purchased a chief rent of
£9 English, theretofore payable out of Paul Davis's lands here, to
Richard Fagan, attainted, while Stephen Swift of Kilkenny had a
grant of said Pagan's landed estate here, 95a.

• Record Tower, Dub. Cast. t Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

222 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

In 1832 the first stone was laid of the new Catholic church by
the Rev. William Young, parish priest of the union of Howth,
Beldoyle, and Kinsaly.

Leaving Kinsaly, which, it may be remarked, is
said to possess a bed of excellent marble, the road
passes into the village of

SAINT DOULOGH's.

In the street, at the head of the lane v^rhich leads
to its church, are the stone basement and socket of
an ancient cross, one of those which once marked the
croceffi, or lands of the cross, " ex parte Fingal.'*

This church, which is situated on an eminence,
commanding a most extensive prospect, is said to have
been built by the Danes, as a shrine for St. Olave ;
the supposition is not, however, probable nor well
supported, and Lanigan with more propriety consi-
ders it the work of natives, and dedicated to St.
Doulogh or Dulech, an Irishman, whose day of com-
memoration is kept on the 1 7th of November.* It
was originally a cruciform structure, but the nave
has long since given place to a very small, modem
church, wholly destitute of even the ornament of
monuments. At the time of its foundation this form
could not have been fully developed, for the transepts
are remarkably small, as is also the eastern portion or
original chancel. The building does not stand due
east and west, and, though it possesses the stone
roof in common with the ancient Saxon churches, all
its windows and arched loop-holes approximate to the

• Lanigan's Eccl. Hist. vol. iii. p. 359.

SAINT doulouoh's; 223

pointed form. It is forty-eight feet long by eighteen
wide, and has a double stone roof, the outer, which
covers the building, and the inner, which divides the
lower from the upper story ; a small chamber, dimly
lighted, occupies the space between, while in the
centre of the building rises a low broad tower with
graduated battlements, on which, recently, an incon-
gruous spire has been erected, that disfigures and in-
jures the edifice.

On entering the crypt by a small door at the
south side, the tomb of the patron saint presents
itself, from which a subterranean passage is said to
have descended to the well hereafter described ; a
narrow way leads thence into the chapel, which is
twenty-two feet long by twelve broad, and lighted by
three windows, one at the east, and two at the south.
Up two pair of stairs is a recess, not much larger
than an oven, said to have been the penitential bed of
the saint. The roof of the edifice is still in good
preservation ; the outer part, rising in a very steep
wedge shape, is covered with smooth oblong stones,
not large, but laid so closely together without over-
lapping, and so well bedded in mortar, that, after the
many intervening centuries, they neither admit light
nor water. The staircase is two feet wide, and of
similar construction, the steps being each an irregular
triangle and placed alternately, so that two occupy
only the breadth of one step as usually placed, by
which the ascent is accomplished in half the ordinary
space. A modern building, contiguous to the ancient,
forms the present place of parochial worship. Near

224 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

the church, is a well dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.
The water is contained in a circular basin, and over
it is an octangular inclosure forming a cone. About
it were anciently some fresco paintings and decora-
tions, put up by Peter Fagan of the Feltrim family.
The descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles was
represented at the top, and round the sides were
the eflSgies of Saints Patrick, Columba, and Brigid,
piuch after the manner they are engraved in the title
to Messingham*s Florilegium, as also of the patron
St. Doulogh, in a hermit's habit ; on the wall was
likewise the following inscription engraved upon a
marble slab, commemorative of the sanative effects of
this holy well :

<< Piscinae Solymis clarae decus efferat alter,

£t medicas populus jaciet Hebrteus aquas,
Grata Deo patrium celebrat Fingallia fontem

Doulachi precibus munera nacta piis ;
Morbos ille fugat promptus viresque reponit

^gris, et causas mille salutis habet ;
Scilicet aequus agit mediis Doulacbus in undis,

Angelus ut fontem, sic movet ille suum ;
O fons noster amor ! si te negleximus olim,

Mox erit ut nomen sit super astra tuum."

But all these curious memorials of devotion were de-
stroyed by the wilful wickedness of those, who knew
not how durably a nation is alienated by profaning or
slandering the objects of its religious reverence. The
Greeks felt the eloquence of such an incentive, and
forbade the restoration pf the sacred monuments
which the Persians had prostrated. Below this well
is another vaulted place called St. Catherine's pond.

BALGRIPFIN. 225

This parish, the rectory being in the dean and
chapter of Christ Church, ranks as a curacy with-
out glebe or glebe-house. It comprises but the one
townland of St. Doulogh's, and is in the Catholic
union of Howth. The comparative population of it
and of Balgriffin was reported as 534 Catholics to 78
Protestants. The rent of lands in both places rates
from £5 to £7 per acre, labourers' wages being Ss.
per week. Extensive limestone quarries have been
worked here, which exhibited numerous organic re-
mains.

In 1178 Archbishop Laurence O'Toole granted to Christ
Church (inter alia) the chapel of St. Doulogh's with the tithes
thereof, also Ballymacamlaib, Cloncoein, Talgagh, Tulaghcoein,
Cellingeneleam, Celtinen, Rathsalchan, Tillaghnaescop, &c.

At the close of the fifteenth century, John Bumell of Bal-
griffin gave to John Young, chaplain, and to his successors certain
messuages, lands, and tenements in Bothem, Balinacarrick, and
Nettlebed, with their appurtenances for ever, towards establishing
a: chantry in the chapel of St. Doulogh's.*

Other records connected with this locality will be found at
« Balgriffin."

In 1814 the Board of First FruiU lent £800 towards building
the glebe-house, and gave £400 for the same object.

On the old walls here grows arabis hirmtUy hairy
wall cress ; and in the vicinity, ophrys apifera^ bee
ophrys ; narcissus sylvestris^ wild daffodil, &c.

Leaving St. Doulogh^s,

BALGRIFFIN,

or Bally-griffin, i. e. Griffin's town, succeeds, with

• Rot. Pat. 21 Hen. VII. in Cane. Hib.

226 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

the handsome seat of Mr. Rutherford at left, its gar*
dens and hothouses, and the little river intersecting
the grounds and feeding its fish ponds. The fee of
this locality is in Mr. Doyne. Rent rates from £5
to £7 per acre.

Balgriffin was formerly a chapelry dependant on
the parsonage of Swords. It is now united with St.
Donlogh's, and, as the rectory is wholly impropriate
in the Precentor of Christ Church, ranks as but a cu-
racy in the deanery of Swords, and in the patronage
of the chanter of the said cathedral, both curacies
being estimated at the annual value of £ 160. Tlie
union extends over 1052a. 2r. 2p. In the population
returns Balgriffin is stated as a separate parish, and
that of 1831 returns its inhabitants as two hundred
and fifly-nine persons.

The church of Balgriffin was, immediately after the English
invasion, in the patronage of Thomas Comyn, as lord of the town-
hmd.

In 1178 Archbishop OToole confirmed to the priory of the
Holy Trinity (inter alia) the church of Balgriffin and its glebe,
with the chapel of St. Doulogh's, in the same parish, and the tithes
thereof. It appears, however, that in the time of Archbishop
Luke, the family of Thomas Comyn disputed this title, and, on the
death of an incumbent, WiUiam Norragh, the widow of said Tho-
mas affected to present John White thereto ; her claim was, how-
ever, unsuccessful as respected the advowson, but the family of
Comyn continued possessed of the fee, and in the year 1403 Sir
William Comyn was found seised of the manor, messuages, rents,
and tenements of Balgriffin, with all their rights and appurtenances.
His son having intermarried with Maria Burnell, the property
passed into the latter family.*

Rot Glaus. 4 Hen. IV. in Cane. Hib.

BALGKIFFIN. 227

Id 1418 King Henry the Fifth granted to Sir Thomas Talbot,
brother of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the manor of << Bally-
griffin,'' with all its appurtenances, being in the king's hands by
forfeiture, to be held by him for ever at the service of a knight's
fee and an half. But, although the record runs so, it would seem
as if the king's title was misstated, and accrued in right of a mino-
rity, for in 14G0, Willtam Baron de IVIarcsco was here married
to Christiana, daughter of Robert Burn ell, Lord of Balgriflin.
She survived hjaij atidj as appears hy sc\ aral ancient records, was
an especial favourite with Kiag Edward tlie First and his court.

In 1500 the king comniitted the custody of the whole county
of Dublin, durmg pleasure, to Robert Burnell of Balgrifiin,* a
branch of vi hose family suoii after settled al Castleknock,

In 1534 John Burn ell of BalgrilHn was one of the warmest ad-^
herents of the ill-fated Thomas Fitzgerald, " the t^tlkeii lord." He
was married lo a diiughler of the second Lord Gormanstoii.

In 1537 GernUlj son of Edward Nugent, had a general livery
of seisin and pardon of intrusion as to lands in Bddoylej Corbalk*
Parndafe, Newton, Tawlaght, and Balgriffm.f

111 1545 the king granted lo Conacius Earl of Tyrone, in con-
sideration of his services, the town of Balgriffin, wilh all its mes-
suagesj gardonst &c., exco(>l the mill an<l water courses, tho late
esUte of John Ournell, attainted, to hold lo said earl for life* re-
mainder to the Baron of Dungannnn in tail male, with a condi*
lion of forfeiture in case of any confederacy agninstj or dtstur-
banco of llio government by the earl, or any person in possession
under the remainder*

In 1560 Robert Burnell of this family was member of parlia-
ment for Drogheda, as was Henry Burtiell for the county of Dub-
lin in 1585.

' In 1574 Queen Elizabeth, without noticing the patent of 1545
to the Eail of Tyrone, granted to Thomas ^ the tenth Earl of Or-
moud, the estates of John Burnell of BalgrifBn, " forfeited by ihe
treason for which he had been lately eiecnted," That family did not,
however, abandon tbcir opposition to the queen's government, and

• Kgl. Pal. 15 Hen. VU. in Caac, Hik t Hot. In Cane. liib.

228 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

accordingly in 1577 Sir Henry Sidney, writing to the lords of the
council in England, says of one of them — " Of Burnell I will say
httle, hut wbh he had hecn hetter occupied, for he is a man well
spoken and towardly enough otherwise, if he would have i^iplied
himself to his profession and followed his chents* causes, and not
so busily have meddled with her majesty's prerogative, which is not
limited by Magna Charta, nor found in Littleton's Tenures, nor
written in the books of assizes, but registered in the remembrances
of her majesty's exchequer, and remains in the roll of records in
the tower as her majesty's treasure. It were good therefore he
were taught to know it better, if he have not yet learned so far.
And for the cess it is the queen's right, it is her royalty very long
and of antienty continued, and found to have had a being by the
name of cess and cessor in the antientest rolls of laws that arc ex-
tant in this land, the impugners thereof are the more severely to
be dealt withal, which I refer to your lordships' grave, wise, and
honourable considerations." And in another despatch to the
queen he says — << Burnell's father is alive, and an old man, but
neither in youth nor age lived or was able to live in half that ap-
pearance that this man doth. He thirsteth earnestly to see the
English government withdrawn from hence."

In 1580 John de Bathe of Drumcondra bequeathed a plough-
land in Chapelizod to support an hospital for four poor men here.

In 1599 Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam being seised, as it would ap-
pear, as trustee of the Earl of Tyrone, of the manor, town, and
lands of Balgriffin, three hundred acres, granted same to William
Bathe in tail male ;* and accordingly a subsequent inquisition finds
his heir, John Bathe, seised of said manor, &c., of Balgriflin, con-
taining one castle, one water-mill, three hundred acres of arable
land, &c., which he so held of the crown in capite by knight service.

On the attainder of Hugh Earl of Tyrone, some doubt arising
whether the estate of Balgriffin, with its appurtenances, so al-
leged to have been previously conveyed by said Hugh to John
Bathe, might not be involved in the consequent forfeitures, the
Lord Deputy and Council, on the petition of said John, promised
and undertook, that his Majesty, his heirs and successors, should
from time to time, at the will and pleasure of said John, his heirs

• Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

BELCAMP. 229

and assigns, by new letters patent, without fine or other chargcs>
grant to said John, his heirs or assigns, or their nominees, all said
lands of Balgriflin, under such rents and reservations as said
Hugh had reserved. And such their undertaking was enrolled in
ihc! Cound! Book nnd in the Journals of Parliament,

For a noike of Balgriflin \u 1C09» and the rights which the
Piers family ibeii acquired it ere, see at *' Cabragh."

At the time of the regal visitation in 1615, there were ihc
ruins of a chapel yet remaining here, appcrtaimng^ as that rclufn
stales, to St, Doulogli'^* Some obscure traces of this ccHiico ar©
^till observable.

In 1617 John Bathe passed patent for the entire manor of
Balgriffin, stated to have been the estate of John BurneU, at-
lainledj and ^conveyed as above to said Bathe, by Sir Thomaii
FitzwiLUam.

About the close of the reign of Charles the First, flourished
1 Icnry Bunioll, a descemlant of 1 his family, author of ** Langartha i
n tragi -com cdy, presented in the new theatre in Dublin with good
applause, being an ancient story. Dublin, 164L 4to,"* The plot
was taken from the ancient Swedish and Danish historians j and it
viits tlic last play performed at the old theatre in Werburgh-strcett
Dublin.

In 1666 James Duke of York obtained a grant (iWtfr tilia)
of 480 acres, pianlaiion measure, iii ** Ballygriffin/*

llichard Earl of Tvrconncl subsequently resided at the castle
here, having obtained a grant of tlic above 480 acres, which, on
Ills attainder, were given to J«bn Forstcr of Dublin, subject to a
lease for mncty-nlue years, to Thomas Stepney, Esq. the benefit
of ^hicb interest said Stepney duinied at Chichester house ; and
was allowed same with saving of the n»UU of ** the two parsons ut
BalgrJflin;'

The next locality wortliy ofiiotkc \^

^ BELCAMT,

formerly tlic scat of Sir Edward NewcnUaufi, now that

• WaUtcr's Uhl of the Irish Suge.

230 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

of Mrs. Hawthorne, a large and handsome house, near
which is a small tower, built in 1778, in honour of
General Washington, and suitably inscribed.

The windings of the road afford interesting vistas
of the sea, Ireland's Eye, Howth, and the intervening
shore. At left succeeds Clare Grove, the mansion of
General Cuppage, previously called Annesley Lodge,
having been the residence of Lord Annesley. At
right is Darndale, formerly the estate of the Rev.
John Jackson of Clonshaugh, in this county, who be-
queathed it about the year 1787> subject to the life
interest of his grand-nephew, Edward Bever, Esq. to
the Incorporated Society for founding Protestant
Schools, to the use of said charity for ever.

COOLOCK,

the immediately succeeding village, gives its name to
the parish and barony in which it is situated; the for-
mer IS a vicarage in Finglas Deanery, the rectory and
advowson of the vicarage being in the Marquis of
Drogheda.

The parish was assessed to the ancient subsidies,
and, according to the road rates, as 1 199 acres, com-
prised in ten townlands. Its estimate, under the mo-
dem survey, has not yet been calculated. Its popu-
lation in 1831 was 914 persons, while the number of
its labourers is said to be about 170, of whom 140 get
constant employment, and thirty occasional. Near the
village is a small neat church, for the repair of which
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted
£244 I8s, It is situated on the brow of a hill. In

COOLOCK. 231

the parish is a glebe-house, with a glebe of 1 7a. 2 r. 25p.
In the Catholic dispensation, Coolock is in the Union
of Clontarf, and has a neat and commodious chapel,
with a spacious vestry-room, in which a library is kept
oF suitable books for the use of the Coolock Benefit
Society-
There is here a Sunday and Day Protestant school,
where at present are maintained three boarders, each
paying £15 per annum, while about twenty girls and
fifteen boys receive a daily education gratuitously.
This establishment is supported by contributions from
Lord Charlemont, Mr. Guinness^ the Rector, &c-

The church contains no monument.s, and those in
the cemetery are modern^ the oldest of note being to
the memory of the Rev, Smyth Loft us, who died
Vicar of Coolock, in 17G1- There are also monu-
ments to the families of Ferguson and Jolly, t^ one of
the Dalys of Loughrea, to Alderman Nugent, who
died in 1834, another to the Rev. Nesbitt Scely, \vho
died Vicar of luismagrath, in 1806, and an enclosure,
funereally adorned with yews, and designated the
grave of General Cuppage> though the general still
" lives — a prosperous gentleman/' Sir Coraptoa
Domvillc is the chief proprietor of the fee in this pa-
rish. The rent of land vanes from £3 to £G per
acre, that of a cabin, without land, from one to two
shillings per week.

In the neighbourhood of the village were several
raths, or moats, of which some arc yet discernible, but
now much cut down, and mixed vvitli the soil of the
flur rounding fieldsp The nio&t perfect is on Mr.

232 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Staunton's ground, hence called Moatfield. There is
another at Edenmore, near the church ; a third, at
Damdale, Mr. Gogarty's, and another at Mr. White s
of Bonnybrook.

In the time of Archbishop Comyn, Coolock was a chapdry
annexed to Swords,* and, according to the authority of a collation
of Archbishop Fagan in 1733, was dedicated to St. Brendan of
Kerr}', whom ancient chronicles style *' the great patriarch of
monks and star of the western world," and who, having been the
founder of the monastery at Clonfert, in which he spent the close
of his life, was thence usually called Brendan of Clonfert. He
was born in 484, studied theology under St. Jarlath of Tuam,
founded various religious houses, died on the 16th of May, in the
year 577, and was buried at Clonfert.

In Allen's Roister is preserved a certificate of Archbishop
Comyn, that he had admitted, about the year 1190, Walter
Comyn to the parsonage of the church of Swords, with the ap-
pendant chapels of Malahide, Kinsaly, BalgriHin, Coolock, &c. ;
\yhile in the Repertorium Viride it is stated, that the church of
Coolock had anciently been in the gift of the Baron de Nugent,
but was afterwards appropriated to the priory of Lanthony near
Gloucester, whose fraternity endowed a perpetual vicarage here
of their own presentation.

In 1207 Haket de Nugent gave sixty marks for liberty to
bring a proceeding in the nature of an ejectment for three knights'
fees with their appurtenances, which had been the property of
Gilbert de Nugent his brother, situated in Coolock and its vici-
nity, and then occupied by Richard de Capella.

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the family of Holly-
wood was seised of the manor of Coolock, of which the lands of
Ballytra, Drynam, &c. were held.f Tliis property subsequently
passed to the Talbots.

In 1537, the king, by letters patent, which were confirmed by
a private act of parliament, conferred upon John Bathe and Ed-

' Allen'8 Register. t Rolls in Cane. Hib.

cooLOCK. 223

mund Griffin, (inter alioy) the parsonage of Coolock, which was
afterwards rated to the First Fruits at £5 Is. Sd,

In 1538 the prior of Kilmainham granted to Matthew King
and Ehzabeth his wife, (inter a/to,) thirty acres of the wood of
Coolock, and all other woods to the said town belonging.

A I tlio dissolution, the prior of St, John's of Kilaiaiiiham wa*
found seised of twenty-four acrca of underwood in Coobck, called
the Prior's wood, annual value 6s~ 8(1.^ while the rectory, extend'-
iiig over CouJock, KiJaiorc, Ncvvlown, and Darndale^ wi\s appro-
priate to the abbey of Duleek.

lu 1 579 MarmaJuke Middleton, who hml been Vicar of Coo-
lock, succeeded to the sees of Water ford and Lisniorcp He was
afterwards degraded, and deprived at Lambeth, before the High
Commissi oncrSy not otdy by reading bis sentence in sniptiSf but
by a formal divesting bim of hh episcopal robes and priestly \cst-
mcnts* His offence appears to have been the contriving and pub-
lishing of a forged wilb Wbon pressed lo answer art ides, he
refused to do so upon oatb, claiming the privilege of a peer, to
testify upon honour. He did not long survive his disgrace.

Fn 1505 the king presented Edward Moore to the perpetual
\icarage of Coolock, as then vacant by the death of Edward We-
therby. — ^For notices in ICOS, as to the poaaessions of the Prior of
Krlmainham here, see at <« Clontarf/' and in IGll see at " Clogh-
ran," as to those of the Nugent family*

In 1614 Garrett, Vismunt Moore, was seised of the rectory
and tithes of Coobck^* for which he passed patents in ! 620 atid
1G40. The regal visitation of 1Cj15 returns the vicarage as of the
value of twenty marks^ and states that John Credland was then itt
vicar.

in IGIG Nicholas Lord Howtb died geised of one messuage
and fourteen acres here, two messuage;* and eighty-five acrca in
Wbitstou, Stc.^t vbich continue in bis descendant- At the time
of the visi ration of 1630, Thomas Seele, who was afterwards Dean
of St- Patrick's, filled the cures of Coolock and Ralheny, aud so
continued to do do^n to 1043*

In l(>73 James Lord Saulry died seised in ffee and common

• Inqutt- in Caiw- llib* f i*f

234 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

soccagc of thirty acres in Coolock, and leaving Ricliard bis son and
heir.*— For notices of Coolock in 1682, see at « Feltriin," and
in 1697 and 1732, see " Santry."

In 1760 the church, then newly erected, was consecrated, the
Rev. Smith Loftiis being minister. In 1817 it was rebuilt, or
rather enlarged, and in 1818 Mrs. Anne Preston, before men-
tioned, left £100 to the minister and churchwardens of the parish
of Coolock, to be laid out at interest, and the annual proceeds
applied for the use of the poor of said parish. The minister states
that this bequest '<is vested in 8^ per cent, stock, and the interest
put amongst Che other church collections, and accounted for ac-
cordingly."

In 1832 a society was formed hereby Mr. Staunton, the proprie-
tor of the Begitter newspaper, then and still resident at Moatfield
within the parish, with the object of diverting from the ale-house
the wages of the labourer's week, and establishing a fund for the
relief and maintenance of the working people under the visitation
of sickness, or want of employment. Persons paying one shilling
per month were constituted members, not, however, to be entitled
to the benefit of the fund, until such weekly payments amounted
to one pound. As character, however, is an essential qualification
to admission, so is it also to continuance in the fraternity ; and any
member, whose viciousness has been marked by conviction in a
court of justice, or been otherwise established, is in minor in-
stances fined, and in more aggravated cases, solemnly expelled.
The allowance to a sick member is 7s. per week, and to one un«
employed 5«. per week, while every member is empowered to
bequeath £5 at his decease out of the funds, and to have hb fune-^
ral expenses defrayed by the society. In consequence of the in*
crease of its members, and the accumulation of the deposits, which
were reguUrly lodged in a savings' bank, this institution has added
to its objects, that of a loan fund for the necessities of its indus-
trious members ; and under the influence of all these charitable
exertions, this village has grown into comfort and morality. It is
now further proposed, on the principle of the Monts de Piete, to
accept any voluntary deposits, giving an interest of 3 per cent, for
same, such investments to be afterwards lent out to the members

* Inquis. in Cane. Ilib.

ARTANE. 235

of the society at £5 per cent.) the pofit to be of course appro-
priated to the definite objects of the kistkution. This society at
present comprises about three hundred members, principally of the
class of agricultural labourers. There is, also, a little library fur-
nished with fitting books upheld by the society, and lent out under
the direction of a managing committee.

A very pretty cross-road leads from Coolock by
the church to Ratheny, pursuing the course of a
little rivulet, which, winding in a valley at right
through Brookville, the handsome seat of Mr. Law,
and Edenmore, that of Mr, M^Conchy, glides by the
church of Ratheny, as before mentioned, into the sea.

The botany of Coolock exhibits lalhyrus praten-
sis, yellow meadow vetchling ; vicia cracca, tufled
vetch; senecio tenuifolius, hoary ragwort; hromus
erecttis, upright brome-grass ; lolium perenne, ray
grass. — In the watery places, epUoUum parviflorum,
small flowered willow herb.— On the old ditches,
comus sanguinea, dog wood ; rosa arvensis, white
trailing dog rose ; ranunculus hederaceus, ivy crow-
foot ; centaurea scdbiosa, greater knapweed ; while,
in and on the ditches of a cross-road that leads hence
to Santry, are found scahiosa arvensis, field scabious;
myosotis palustris, forget-me-not ; oMsma ranuncu-
hides, lesser water plantain ; verbena officinalis, ver-
vain ; origanum vulgare, common marjoram, and a
variety of the centaurea nigra, black knapweed with
white flowers.

ARTANE,

the next locality, more anciently called Tartainc, was
a chapelry, dedicated to St. Nicholas, and subservient

236 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

to the church of Finglas.* In the Catholic arrange-
ment it is annexed to the parish of Clontarf. It com-
prises 953a. 2r. 8p. in two townlands; and its popu-
lation (in 1831) was stated as 583 persons.

Some inconsiderable ruins of the ancient church
survive the desecration, that has appropriated its prin-
cipal materials to the construction of a modern edifice.
Within the mouldering fragments is a tombstone to
Elizabeth, the daughter of John Talbot, of Malahide,
and wife of Christopher Hollywood, who died in 1711*
and to said Christopher, who died in 1718; while be-
side it is a sarcophagus, without date, to Richard Co-
noUy, Esq. of Elm Park. A barbarism, even greater
than that which dilapidated the church, is observable
in the shameless evidences of premature resurrections
which the graveyard exhibits.

Artane was for centuries the estate of the family of Holly-
wood, or <* de Sa£ro Bosco ;" for particulars of whom see post, at
" Hollywood." It seems to have been acquired by them in the
fourteenth century, when Robert de Hollywood, one of the Re-
membrancers, and afterwards a Baron of the Exchequer, paid forty
shiUings for a license to acquire certain lands and tenements in
Ireland.

In 1416 the king committed to Philip Charles and others the
custody of Artane and all the other lands of which Christopher
Hollywood died seised in Ireland, and which were then in the
king's hands, according to the law of wardship, by reason of the
minority of Robert, said Christopher's son and heir.

In 1420 a similar grant passed to Richard Fitz Eustace, knight,
of the custody of two parts of all the manors, &c. of said Christo-
pher ; and which are therein described as lying in the counties of

* Repert. Viride.

ARTANE.

Dublin, Meath, andJ^ootlT and continuing in the king's hands by
reason of the minority of said Robert.

In 1*435 said Robert having died, leaving three daughters mi-
nors, the crown again became entitled to the possession of two-
thirds of the manor of Artane, the other third being assigned for
the widow's dower : and accordingly granted the custody thereof
during their minority to their uncle.* On the marriage of one of
those daughters with Robert Burnell, of Balgriffin, her proportion
of the estate passed into that family .f

In 1533 John Allen, Archbishop of Dublin, when intending
to fly from the resentment of Thomas Fitzgerald, then in rebellion
against King Henry, took boat from Dublin, but his Httle bark was
driven on shore by contrary winds near Clontarf, whence he sought
shelter in Artane, but being discovered, was dragged from his bed,
and inhumanly murdered. The spot, where this deed was perpe-
trated, is recorded to have been for a long time hedged in, over-
grown with weeds, and unfrequented. This ill-fated prelate was
the pupil of Wolsey, and trained up by him in political intrigue.
He had served his ambitious patron as judge in his Icgatinc court
with an assiduity and attention neither upright nor honourable ;
and, though accused of misdemeanor, and dismissed from this
office, he was still protected by the cardinal, and proved his useful
and active agent in the suppression of monasteries. The jealousy
of Gardiner, however, affected his removal to Ireland, where his
adoption of his patron's prejudices agunst the Geraldines led to his
destruction. — About the same time Richard Delahoyde and Tho-
mas Howth, of Artane, had a grant, in consideration of 120 marks
of silver, of all the hereditaments and possessions which the then
late Thomas Hollywood held of the crown, in capUe, during the
minority of Nicholas, son and heir of said Thomas; also the ward-
ship and marriage of said Nicholas. Immediately after this event,
Artane became the residence of Thomas Howth, alias St. Law-
rence, a saving of whose rights is contained in the act of absentees
of 1537.

In 1539, the Prior of Kilmainham granted to Thomas Howth,

• Rot Pat. 13 Hen. VI. in Cane. Hib.
t Rot. Claus. 19 Hen. VI. in Cane. Hib.

238 C&HSjy ^F DUBLIN.

of Artane, for his good counsel alrea^^^-^en, and to be given,
an annuity of twenty shillings ; while the Prior 9f Great Conall
assigned to him a similar annuity, as did also the Abbot^f Oonard^
and the Prior of Ballybogan.

At the dissolution, the titheis of Artane townland, with the al-
tarages, were valued at £8, besides the curate's stipend, and the
repairs of the chanceL

About this time, according to the report of the Dunsany Ba-
ronage, Elizabeth, the wife of Nicholas Hollywood, of Artane, and
the heiress general of the first Baron of Dunsany, was passed over
on the death of her father, and the peerage enjoyed by her uncle.

In 1587 Nicholas Hollywood was seised of the manor and
lands, &c. of Artane, containing one castle, six messuages, and
190 acres of land, held of the king, in capUe^ by knight's service,
and died seised thereof in 1629. This tract was valued on survey
in 1663, at 14*. per acre.*

For a notice in 1627, see at « Hollywood." In 1641 Luke
Netterville, son of Lord Netterville, at the head of a body of roy-
alists, possessed himself of the castle of Artane, and placed a gar-
rison in it without opposition, Christopher Hollywood being one
of his adherents. This Chrbtopher was afterwards one of the
confederate Catholics who sat at Kilkenny.

At the Court of Claims consequent upon the forfeitures of
1641, John Hollywood, in relation to the attainder of Nicholas
Hollywood, established his title in tail male to the manors of Ar-
tane, otherwise Tartaine (then computed as 244 acres), and great
Hollywoods, in Santry, with divers other lands in the counties of
Dublin, Meath, and Wexford, with remainder to the crown on
failure of his issue male. This John was one of the signers of the
Roman Catholic Remonstrance. In 1680 bis Majesty granted
his said estates to Sir Arthur Forbes, one of the commissioners of
the Court of Claims, to hold to him and his heirs for a term of
1000 years, at the yearly rent of three pence per acre, to com-
mence from the expiration of Hollywood's interest.

In 1697 the Rev. Mr. Cahill or Kale was returned as the Ro-
man CathoUc Priest serving this parish, and resident at Mr. Hol-

* Inqais. in Cane. Hib.

KILLESTER. 239

ly wood's. He was also parish priest of Cloniarf, Santry, and Coo-
lock. For a notice of Artane in 1732, see " Santry."

In and previous to the year 1748, Artane, by the failure of the
male line of John Hollywood, had rested in the Earl of Granard,
under the grant of 1680, to hig ancestor, Sir Arthur Forbes. The
manor is at present the property of L(ffd Maryborough, an absen-
tee, who receives from £4 to £8 per acre out of it.

In I8di2 Matthew Boyle, Esq.^ bequeathed £10 per annum
for thirty-one years, towards the support of the master and mis-
tress of the school here, which has since placed itself in connexion
with the Natiomd Board, from whom it receives £25 per annum
additional. The aumher of its pupils was in 1834, 140.

Passing Artane, a road turns at Icfl to

KILLESTER,

anciently called Quillestra, a curacy united to Clon-
tarf in both the Catholic and Protestant arrangements,
extending over 279a. 1r. 15p., comprised in the sin-
gle denominatioffi of Killeater. Its tithes are payable
to the economy of Christ Church. Its population in
1831 was 113 persons, of whom 86 were Roman Ca-
tholics.

Within this townland may be traced, in the upper
beds of limestone, impressions of organized bodies,
but so obscure, that nothing more than tlieir vege-
table nature can be inferred.

The ruins of the chapel, which was one of those
appendant to the church of Swords, exhibit two large
gables and windows, with broken connecting walls,
all thickly invested with ivy, enclosing and enclosed
with elder trees. It was dedicated to St. Brigid,
the virgin abbess, who was bom at Foghart near

240 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Dundalk, in the sixth century. She is otherwise
called St. Bride, and is considered as the general
patroness of Ireland, her festival being observed on
the first of February.

Here is a handsome seat, once the residence of
Viscount Newcomen, now the property of General
Luscombe. Its gardens were formerly much ad-
mired. The hall is spacious, the reception-rooms
good, and the demesne tastily laid out, displaying
fine vistas of the bay and its southern shores, some
winding wooded walks, and one straight arcade still
termed " the nuns* walk."

At tho time of the English invasion the prior of Christ Church
was seised of the chapel) tithes, and lands of Killester ; the latter
he demised in 1174 to Andrew Browne, (one of the early adven-
turers who came in the suite of Henry the Second,) reserving
thereout annually, on the feast of St. Michael, forty pence ster-
ling and a pair of slippers* This interest was confirmed to the
heir of said Andrew, on his paying yearly on the altar of Christ
Church half an ounce of gold and a pair of boots for the prior, to-
gether with the tithes of that land, and all other lands he might
acquire.* In 1178 Archbishop O'Toole confirmed the right of
Christ Church herein.

In 1186 a bull of Pope Urban specifies Killester as of the pos-
sessions of Christ Church, and in 1240 it was confirmed, with all
its appurtenances and tithes, by Archbishop Luke, to that esta-
blishment.

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the Whites were th
proprietors of this* locality under the dean and chapter of Christ
Church ;f and in 1373 Richard White, as Lord of Killester, was
summoned to a great council4 From them it passed to the Lords

* Regist. Christ Church. t Rot. 46 Edw. IN. in Cane. Hib.

X Rolls in Cane. Hib.

DONNYCARNEY. .241

of Howthy and accordingly a record of 1526 states that Lord
Howth then held the manor of Killester from the priory of Christ
Church, at the yearly rent of 3«. 4d. Some time previous to this,
the chapelry had become one of the five subservient to Swords.

For a notice in 1538, see at " Killbarrock." In 1547 the great
tithes of this parish were valued at £13 6s, 8d^ and were so de-
mised.*

In 1593 Lord Howth demised to Patrick Taylor of Coolock,
the town and lands of Killester, 140a. for sixty-one years, at the
yearly rent of £23 £nglish. For a further notice in this year see
ante the memoir of " The Family of St. Lawrence."

An inquisition of 1621 6nds that Nicholas, Baron of Howth,
died in 1606 seised of Killester, three messuages, and seventy-two
acres, &c.

Chidley Coote, second son of Sir Charles Coote, the repub-
lican general, subsequently resided and died here, and bequeathed
the estate of Killester to increase the jointure of his wife Anne.
His interest was, however, derived from that of the Lord of Howth,
in whose descendants the fee still continues. For notices in 1697,
see at « Clonmethan,'* and in 1732, at " Santry ;" and for an ac-
count of the Loan Fund Society established here in 1833, see at
" Qontarf."

Returning to the Coolock road the hamlet of

DONNYCARNEY

interposes itself in the approach to the city. It is the
property of the corporation of Dublin, under whom
the Earl of Charlemont holds it at the yearly rent of

£885.

The corporation acquired it on the dissolution of the priory of
All Hallows, to whom it appertained from time immemorial, as
haying been one of the townlands given by Dermot Mac Murrough

• loquis. 38 Hen. VIU.

342 COUNTY OP DUBUN.

in the twelfth century for the founding of that establishment «
(See unU at Beldoyle.)

In 1184 King Henry the Second confirmed the right of All
Hallows to this denomination, and, at the time of the dissolutioni
the (xrior of that house was found seised of a messuage, five cot.
tages, one hundred and twenty acres of arable land, six of mea*
dow, sixteen of pasture, and two of copse here.*

In 1658 William Basils who had been the Irbh attorney-general
previous to Cromwell's usurpation, and continued so during the
Protectorate, acquired, by reasou of his situation and some d»cre-
ditable services, a large property, including Donnycarney> which
he obtained as a bribe, and on which he resided for some time. A
considerable portion of these properties was reclaimed by the l^al
owners on the Restoration, Donnycamey reverting to the corpora-
tion of Dublin, who are still the proprietors of the fee. Martin
Basil, a descendant of the said William, was, however, resident
here in 1688, and was one of those attainted in King James's par-
liament, as was also William Basil.

A retired, pretty road leada^ from Donnycamey,
skirting Lord Charlemont's wood at the lef^, to the
old mansion of Hartfield, with its embattled walls ;
thence, leaving Sion Hill at left, and Highgate and
Drumcondra House at right, it turns into Richmond,
where is a convent for nuns of the order of St. Do-
minick,f who support a female charity school, at
which ninety children are educated. Hence the
tourist returns into the city by the village through
which he emerged, at Ballybough Bridge.

At Richmond the botanist will observe solanum
nigrum^ garden nightshade ; erysimum aUiaria^ Jack
of the hedge ; and by the river side, galanthics ni-

* Inquis. xxx. Hen. VIIL in Ch. Rememb. Office.
t See of this order at " Oxmantown."

RICHMOND. 243

vcUis^ snow-drop, tlie summer harbinger, of which
Darwin writes —

<< Wann with sweet blushes bright Gralantha glows,
And prints with frolic steps the melting snows ;
Chides with her dulcet voice the tvdy spring,
Bidi slumbering zephyr stretch his folded win^,
Wnkes the hoarie cuckoo in his gloomy cave.
And calls the wondering dormouse from hb grave :
Bids the mute redbreast cheer the budding grovot
And plaintive ringdove tune her note* to love/*

li2

244

THE SECOND EXCURSION,
conductsthe tourist through the suburb (^

CLONLIFFE>

a townland, which derived its name, i. e. the pliun of
the Liffey, from its contiguity to the course of that
river, which it bounded to the immediate vicinity of
Otpnantown.

Henry the Second, while in Ireland, granted, or it would ra-
ther appear confirmed, this denomination to the Cistercian abbey
of the Blessed Virgin.

The religions order of the Cistercians was founded towards
the latter part of the eleventh century, by Robert, Abbot of Mo-
leme in Burgundy, who, being unable to introduce his rules in
his own monastery, retired with a few chosen monks to Citeaux,
in the diocese of Chalons. This order, there by him established,
soon acquired great eminence ; and> in the next century, under
the care and labours of the illustrious St. Bernard, Abbot of
Clainral, surpassed even the monks of Clugni in their reputation
for sanctity and virtue, and, in consequence of the great improve-
ment received from his discipline, the fraternity was distinguished
in France and Germany by the title of Bemardin monks.

The fundamental law of the order was the rule of St. Bene-
dict, to which were added many other regulations and injunctions
of the severest kinds, for the purpose of maintaining its authority,
and enforcing its observance. They are said to have neither worn
skins nor any kind of shirts, and to have eaten no flesh, except in
sickness, to have abstained also from fish, eggs, milk, and cheese,
and to have lain upon straw beds in their tunics and cowls. They

CLONLIFFE. 245

always rose at midnight to prayers, and spent the day in Ubour,
reading, and prayer, observing in all their exercises a continual
silence. The habit of a Cistercian monk is a white robe in the
form of a cassock, with a black scapulary and hood, and he is girt
with a wooden girdle. The nuns of the order wear a white tunic
with black scapulary and girdle. At the time of their dissolution
they had forty-two religious establishments in Ireland, two of
which were nunneries.

About the year 1 185, John Earl of Morton granted to the
above abbey a charter of coirfirmation of the lauds of Qonliffe, in
which the abbey itself was stated to be situated, together with
the chapel of ClonliSe^ This locality lay, consequently, beyond the
bounds of the city jurisdiction and charters. For notices in 1376,
see at " Ballybough," and in 1461, see at " Kilmalnham.^

Clonliffe continued to be part of the possessions of the abbey
«f (he Blessed Virgin down to the time of the dissolution, when,
by inqubition of 1541, the abbot of that house was found seised
of a messuage, 123a. of arable, 8a. of meadow, and 10a. of pas-
ture lands in the Grange here, annual value £7 6^. 2d,, and a mill
with the watercourse, annual value 409, His rights having there-
upon vested in the crown, a small portion thereof was granted to
4anies Earl of Desmond in tail male, same being, as the rei^ord
states, ^ reputed parcel of the demesne lands" of said monastery.
For a notice in 1602, see « Dalkey."

' In 1610 Henry King had a grant of the estates of St. Mary's
abbey here. In 1614, however, Crarrett Viscount Moore was
seised of the Grange of Clonliffe, fifteen messuages, fifteen gar-
dens, 260a. arable and pasture, and 80a. of briars,* for which,
together with the above-mentioned water-mill and water-course,
he passed patent in 1618, and again in 1640.

The lordship of St. Mary's abbey, and the Grange of Clonliffe
subsequently vested in the Gardiner family, and were the object
pf sundry private acts of parliament, legalizing settlements, leases,
and charges thereof. That family, since ennobled in the person
of Lord Mountjoy, now Earl of Blessington, still continue pro-

• Rot in Cane Hib.

246 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

piieiors of CIoiiIiffb» the general rent of which (biiildiiig ground
e3Bcepted).i8 about £10 per «ere«

Hence, crossing the Tolka, the road traverses

DRUMCONDRA,

a village of some interesting associations.

The church) the first object of attention, is a plain
edifice, standing on a swelling ground. It was erected
by a sister of Doctor Marmaduke Coghill, and con-
tains within it a very handsome mcmument to his me-
mory. He had been Judge of the Prerogative Court,
aftenrards a privy councillor, chancellor of the ex-
chequer, commissioner of the revenue, and represen-
tative of the University of Dublin in the Irish parlia-
ment. It is the only memorial in the church, and
represents him sitting in his robes as Chancellor of the
Exchequer, while, with a curious hnpartiality towards
Paganism and Christianity, the sculptor has placed at
his right hand the statue of Minerva, and at his lefl
that of religion^ both in white marble. Sir Marma-
duke was born in Dublin in 1673> and died in 1738.
A long inscription gives the chronology of his life and
his pedigree from the Coghills of Coghill Hall, in
Yorkshire.

The surrounding cemetery is crowded with the
forgotten multitudes of ages, mouldering into one mass.
The amlntion for preeminence, even in the grave,
labours to exalt the mausoleum of the world's minions
above the sod of the peasant ; but a few years over, and
the very monuments crumble into the clay th^ were

DBUMCONDRA. 347

erected to commemoi^ate and distinguish. There are^
however, some sacred relics in this home of the dead,
of which an Irish historian cannot be unmindful.
Here, in 1791 5 were deposited the remains of Francis

Grose* the antiquarian. He was the hvn of Mi.
Francis Grose, of Richmond, the jeweller who fitted
up tlie crowTi of George the Second, and died in
1769- The antiquarian was bom in 1731, and early
in life entered the Surrey Militia, of which he became
Adjutant and Paymaster, His extravagance, or ra-
ther improvidence, obliged him to resort to other
pursuits ; and, commencing with the antiquities of
England and Wales, and afterwards those of Scotland,
he ultimately designed, in 1791f the illustration of
Ireland, but died in the onset, in Dublin, of an
apopleetic tit. It was to him, while engaged lu his
labours in Scotland, that Burns alluded in the well-
known lines,

*' A cbiel's amang you taking not<?s.
Ami faith he'll pretit it,"

Near Grose was buried, in 1827* Thomiis Furlong,
a young man, wliose tiilents, in any other country,
would have gained a high reputation. He was one of
the principal translators engaged in that national com-
pilation of Mr. Hardiman, *< The Irish Ministrelsy/*
Here was likewise interred the celebrated aetor, Tho-
mas Ryder, who died at Sandymount, in lyUl-

In reference to the establishments for education, a
mnon school formerly existed here, founded by Mr-
George Purdon Drew, for children of every religious
persuasion. It was opened in 1784, but has since

248 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

ceased; as has also a Sunday school, designed for
young sweeps. There is an existing seminary, how-
ever, adapted for the education of 700 poor children
of both sexes. It consists of two floors, which being
inclined planes, the scholars are always under the su-'
perintendence and eyes of the masters. It is well
warmed and ventilated. Not more, however, than
164 were on its books when inspected for the objects
of this work, (26th May, 1836.) Each pupil pays
one penny per week, and no religious distinction is
known in the establishment. The master's salary is
£50 per annum, the mistress's £30, while a small
annual sum, amounting to.about £10, is distributed
in premiums amongst the scholars.

Of other charitable foundations a widows' alm^
house and a free school were founded here in 1820 by
parochial subscription, and so maintained, but there
are only eight widows now upon the foundation, and
the free school has been discontinued. Here also is
the Retreat, an asylum for the orphan and the widow,
the homeless, the aged, and the infirm, under every
species of unmerited distress. It was founded in
1814, and is extending its benefits under the charita-
ble care of the Misses Keman, who procure work for
its inmates, the profits of which go to their mainte-
nance and clothing, their lodging and education being
gratuitously supplied. There are about twenty women
and thirty children on its books.

The large brick house here, called " Belvidere,"
has long been the residence of the Coghill family ;
while that on the eastern side of the road was erected

DBUMCONDRA. 249

by Primate Rokeby. Opposite the latter, on a by-
road that leads into Richmond, is Mr. Williams's seat,
Drumcondra Castle, retaining only the name of the
fortress that once existed here*. At the commence-
ment of this century there were four flour mills in
Drumcondra, there is now but one on a very small
scale, and a woollen factory which employs about
seven grown persons and four children.

The parish is otherwise called Clonturk, alias
Kanturk, perhaps most correctly Clon-tolk, that is,
the plain of the Tolka, and, the rectory being wholly
impropriate in the corporation of Dublin, ranks as but
a curacy in the deanery of Finglas, donative in the
Coghill family. In the Catholic dispensation it is ii|
the union of Clontarf. It extends over 1244a. Or.
Up., comprising seven denominations, aiid a popu-
lation returned in 1834 as 2713 persons, of whom
1,926 were Roman Catholics. The corporation of
Dublin, under the grant before alluded to of the
possessions of All Hallows monastery, are the chief
proprietors of the fee, which they have leased to va-
rious tenants^ exempt from the payment of tithes, at
the annual rent of £1400. From the poorer occu-
pying tenants an annual rent is reserved of from £5
to £7 per acre, the rent of a cabin being 2^. per week,
while the wages of labour is 8^. per week.

** Clonturk" was one of the townlands given by Dermot Mac
MuiTOUgh to his foundation of All Hallows (see ante^ at <<Bel«
doyle,*^ and so subsequently confirmed by Henry the Second.
In 1804 it was demised by the prior and convent of that house to
John, the son of Thomas le Marshal, and soon afterwards the
Symcock family were settled here.

250 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Archbishop Allen says that the priory of AH Hallows, in his
Ume, received here the tithes of three carucates of land, which they
enjoyed without the endowment of a vicarage. He also states*
that the church appertained to that religious fraternity, who were
at the dissolution found seised of six measuages^ six cottages, one
hundred and fifty acres of land, four of meadow* thirteen of pn*
tnre, two of copse, three of underwood, and a dove-house here.f

In the sixteenth century the residence of John de Bathe, at-
torney general, and afterwards chancellor of the exchequer of Ire-
land, was in Drumcondra, where his ancestors had been settled
fron a very early period. He had then a caAle, eix messuages,
and sixty acres here, whkh he held by fealty only.

The regal visitation of 1615 reported, that the church (which
was dedicated to St. John the Baptist) was utterly ruinous and
extinct, and without a curate.

In 1646 Robert Bathe of Clonturk, was one of theconfedterate
Catiioics who sat at Kilkenny.

In 1666 James Duke of York, had a grant of the castle, town,
and lands of Drumcondra, 200 acres plantation measure, and in
the following year Robert Helton passed patent for 823 acres sta-
tute measure in Clonturk, to hold for the residue of a lease for
ninety-nine years from 1623, made by the city of DtiUin to John
de Bathe.

In 1700 CbichestOT Phillips claimed the benefit of a leasehold
interest in part of the estate of King James the Second, for which
he subsequently passed patent as 240 acres, and of which his heir,
Wilfiam Phillips, was seised in 1748, exempt from the payment of
tithes.

Drumcondra was afterwards the residence of Lord Chancellor
Bowes. He was a native of England, but ibUowed the profession
of the law in this kingdom, and, having passed successively through
the offices of solicitor general, attorney general, and lord chief
baron, was, on the death of Lord Jocelyn, promoted to Uie peerag
as Baron Bowes of Clonlyon, and subsequently appointed lor
chancellor. On his death in 1767, the barony of Bowes of Clon-

• Repert Viride.

t Inqois. xxx. Hen. VJII. in Oh. Rememb. Offic

DRUMGOND&A. 251

lyon became exdnct. DrumooiHlra was immediately afterwards
the residence of hb successor on the woolsack, Lord Lifford, and
subsequently of Primate Rokeby, as before mentioned. In this
village was also the seat of the &ther of the celebrated Michael
Kelly, whfle'he was master of the ceremonies at the castle, and the
scene of that actor's early life.

At the close of the last century a number of ten houses were
erected here for the recreation of the citizens, but the extension of
the dty in this direction encroached upon the gardens, and amuse-
ment having degenerated mto licentiousness and intemperance, as
is too frequently the case in the pcqpukr diversions of Ireland,
this resort was discouraged, and ultiomteiy discostinued.

In 1804 Sir William Gleadowe Newcomen bequeathed to the
minbter and churchwardens of this parish, (where hia << honoured
father and mother were buried^") and to their successors, a Royal
Canal debenture for £100, then bearing interest at 6 per cent, in
trust to apply daid interest yearly in the purchase of tread and
provisions for the poor of said parish.

In 1811 the school, before alluded to as having been designed
for seven hundred children, was founded here on a bequest of
£5000, given by Miss Kellet of Fordstown, in the county Meath,
hr that purpose.

In 1812 (Oct 1) Mr. Sader ascended hence in his balloon
irom Belvidere House at one o'clock, and in thirty-five minutes
had sight of the mountains in Wales. He continued in the same
direction until near three o'clock, when, being nearly over the Isle
of Man, the wind blowing fresh, he found hhnself fast approachmg
the Welch coast, and at four o'clock had a distinct view of the
Skerry Hghihouse, and the prospect of consummating hb ardent
hopes of a speedy arrival in Livei|)ooI. The wind, however, shift-
ing, and night coming on, he precipitated himsdf into the sea,
where, by his direction, a vessel having run her bowsprit through
the balloon, he was extricated from the car, and taken on board.

In 1817 the fine level road was formed through this village,
amongst the improvements in the different avenoes leading into
Dublin, effected at the total expense of nearly £19,000, raised by
public subscription for the employment of the poor. In the same
year the Whitworth Fever Hospital was founded on the adjacent
banks of the Royal Canal.

252 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

About this village ^he botanist will find avena flor
vescensy yellow oat grass j lithospermum arvense,
common gromwell; anagaUis arvensis^ common
scarlet pimpernel ; verbascum thapstis^ great mullein ;
papaver dubium^ long smooth-headed poppy ; sisyrn^
brium Sophia, fine-leaved hedge mustard ; geranium
Pyrenaicum, mountain crane's bill ; Jumaria offici-
nalis, common fumitory ; Jumaria capreolata, climb-
ing fumitory, flowering nearly the whole year, with
the singular property of its leaves performing the
oflSce of tendrils or claspers, turning round whatever
object they touch j tussilagojar/ara, colt's foot ; ana^
gallis mas, male red pimpernel. — On the old walls
are seen gh/ceria rigida, hard sweet grass; lolium
perenne, ray grass; antirrhinum majus, great snap-
dragon; cheiranthusJru^iculosoSyVfBll flower. — In the
waste grounds, carduus acanthaides, welted thistle ;
euphorbia helioscopia,s}m spurge ; urticQ urens, ^mall
nettle, (it is to be observed of this plant, that the Osti-
achs, in Siberia, in lieu of flax and hemp, use a kind of
cloth made of nettles, for curtains, stufis, and veils^
The ashes of the nettle and thistle are also said to be
the best among herbs for bleaching linen ;) atriplexpor
^t^,halbert-leaved orache ; atriplex angustifolia, nar-
row-leaved orache. — In the fields, brassica campestris,
wild naven ; sinapis arvensis, wild mustard; crysan-
themum segetum, com marigold. It deserves remark,
that the marigold was so called by the early botanists
in the monastic gardens, from the circumstance of its
being in blow at the times of all the festivals of the
Blessed Virgin. — On the road sides are seen hor-

SANTRY. 253

deum murinuntf wall barley ; cardamine hirsutdy
hairy lady's smock ; achillea ptarmica^ sneezcwort^
so called because the powder of its' dried leaves, when
used as snuff, provokes sneezing. The bachelor's
button is a variety of this plant. — While in the moist
grounds, between a cross road that leads hence to
Glasnevin and the river Tolka, grow spergida no-
dosa^ knotted spurrey ; cocfdearia arinoracea^ horse
radish ; MfoliumfrcLgiferuniy strawberry trefoil ; py-
rethrum Partheniumi common feverfew ; carex pen-
dula, pendulous sedge ; sagittaria sagittifoliaj arrow
head, a beautiful aquatic, flowering in August ; the
bulb of this species, at the lower part of the root, is a
principal part of the food of the Chinese, and is cul-
tivated as such by them.

The road from Drumcondra to Cloghran, though
once the great northern avenue, is now neglected and
uninviting. From the accent to Highgate, however,
a beautiful retrospective view of the city is presented,
with all its steeples and domes, the Dublin and Wick-
low mountains forming a fine semicircular termina-
tion.

The first locality of importance on this line is

SANTRY,

a village of a few cottages, with the glebe-house in
the centre, a little off the street.

The church is of an humble order, but neat in
the interior, with a belfry of double aperture, accord-
ing to the fashion of this part of the county. Within
it is a fine mural slab of white marble to the memory

254 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

of several members of the Domville family from the
year 1807» also a monument commemorating various
persons of the Jackson family, and another to the
Rev. John Bowden, who died minister of this parish
in 1776» In the grave-yard, just at the entrance, is
a lai^e horizontal stone, carved with ancient sculp-
ture and armorials, intended to mislead inquiry as to
the fate of Lord Santry, who in reality, as mentioned
hereafter, died in Italy.

There is a schooUhouse here for a few children,
erected and partly maintained by the profit rent of
the lands of Goulding's farm, containing forty acres,
and held for 999 years, as devised by the Rev. Mr.
Jackson. The Vicar of Santry for the time being is
the trustee of this charity, out of which he pays £6
per annum to the master of the school. Wakefield
states the annual income of this charity as £20, aris-
ing out of twenty acres of land. About a mile and
a hdf from this is Santry charter-school for boys, to
which belong thirty-two acres of ground, held at a
rent of £37 6s. j the number on the establishment is
at present about thirty-two, there being full accom-
modation for one hundred and fifly.

Sir Compton Domville is the lord of the fee of
Santry, and is principally a resident there ; the rent
charged by him to the occupying tenant averages
from three to four guineas per acre on abatements
allowed out of higher reserved rents. The grateful
testimony of his tenantry is the best criterion that
Sir Compton does not abuse this discretionary power,
but, it may be remarked, that such is sometimes a

8ANTRY. 255

mistaken mode by which Irish landlords conceive
they are serving their landholders; instead of esta-
blishing fiwr, permanent reductions of rent, they ver-
bally profess to allow abatements, while the prices of
agricultural produce continue depreciated, and the
best of them are disposed during that interval to re-
ceive the rent so abated; but, if the tenant improves,
or begins to look prosperous under this reasonable
indulgence, the landlord too frequently considers he
is then justified in proporti(mate exactions, even ulti-
mately to the amount originally reserved. The ap-
prehension of such a result clouds the prospective to
the . struggling tenant ) he becomes indolent and
dispirited, wears out the heart of the ground, over-
whelms himself with all the embarrassments of misma-
nagement and improvidence, presents in his whole
person and household an appearance of that squalid
nature which annihilates 8elf-respect» and finally
plunges into all the guilty obliviousness of inebriety.
The English feeling of lessening the rent of an im-
proving tenant, it must be confessed, is utterly un-
known in Ireland.

The parish of Santry is in the deanery q( Swords,
and ranks as an entire rectory in the gift of the crown.
It comprises 4736a. in seventeen townlands, and had
a population in 1834 of 1101 persons, of whom 893
were Roman Catholics, the remainder Protestants.
The extent of its rectorial and vicarial tithes has been
defined by a parliamentary report of 1824. In the
Catholic dispensation it is in the union of Clontarf.

256 COUNTY OF* DUBLIN.

Immeduitely after the English invasion, Hugh de Lacy gave
the lands of Santry, then accounted within his palatinate of Meath,
to Adam de Phepoe, whose descendants long continued to inherit
this place.

In the middle of the fourteenth century it was demised by
Johanna, the daughter of Francis de Phepoe, to Thomas Mare-
ward,* afterwards Baron of Serine. In 1485 it is recorded as
still of the possessions of the Phepoe family, the manor at that
time extending over the lands of Ballymun, Shillok, little Bally-
curry, Ballystrawan, &c.,f while, in several documents of the
time, it gives its own name to the surrounding barony.

ArchbiAop Allen states the church here as belonging in his
time to the monks of St. Mary's near Dublin. It was dedicated
to St. Pappan, of whom Hanmer writes, << There is at Santry,
some three miles from Dublin, yearly remembrance of a holy man
Pappan, that was born there; he travelled into France, buxlded
there many monasteries, and preferred many men to govern them,
became an abbot himself, and departed thb life in 1088, and Ijeth
buried at Stabuletum in France where he governed." It is pro-
bable the locality was so named from having been the residence
of the saint.

On the dissolution, the rectory, with a manse and a glebe, an-
nual value £14 12#. Od.^ were found to be appropriate to the
abbey of the Blessed Virgin,^ and were in 1547 surrendered to
the crown, by the last abbot of that house. The tithes are sub-
ject to a port com rent, for the nature of which, see " Ballybog-
hiU."

In the sixteenth century the manor of Santry passed from the
Marewardsy who had previously acquired the fee^ to William
Nugent, the second son of Richard, eighth Baron of Delvin, who
had married Janet, the daughter and heiress of Walter Mareward,
Baron of Serine. James Nugent, the son of this marriage, was
Marshal of the confederate Catholic army.

• Rot Pat 49 Edw. HI. in Cane. Hib.
t Rot Pat 13 Hen. VI. in Cane. Hib.
X Inquis. in Offic. Ch. Reroemb., Dub.

SANTRY. 257

From the Niigents it was transmitted to the family of Barry,
and accordingly, in 1587, Robert Barnewall was found seised of
sixty acres here, which, as the inquisition states, he held of Richard
Barry by fealty.* For a notice in 1602, see « Dalkey."

In 1609 the church was rebuilt, and became the burial-place
of many members of the families of Barry and Domville* For a
notice in 1611, see at << Cloghran."

The regal visitittion of 1615 states William Savage to be then
minister of Santry, and that the church was in good repair, but the
chancel in ruins. In 1617, Richard Wiberow was promoted by
the crown to the vicarage.

In 1629 Andrew Goulding died seised in tail male of two
messuages and forty acres here, which he held from Richard Barry
by fealty .f Nicholas Hollywood was at the same time seised by
similar tenure of sixty acres.^

In 1641, Luke Netterville and his adherents of the Pale hav-
ing retreated to Swords, one of Sir Charles Coote's acts of habitual
atrocitj was exercised here, in the burning of the village, and the
slaughter of some rioters, as Leland adds, << without distinction of
the innocent and criminal." The remonstrants thus described
this transaction : ** Some foot companies did march in the night,
by the direction of the Lords Justices, to the town of Santry, in
Fingal, three miles off Dublin; a country that neither then, nor
for the space of four or five hundred years before, did feel what
troubles were, or war meant ; but it was too sweet and too near,
and therefore fit to be forced to arms. In that town innocent
husbandmen, some of them being Catholics, and some Protestants
taken for CathoUcs, were murdered in their inn, and their heads
carried triumphantly into Dublin. Next morning complaint being
made of this, no redress was obtained therein."

In 1653 Richard Barry, of Dublin, Alderman, was lord of this
manor, as was recorded on the ancient bells of the church. He
was afterwards Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and created
Baron of Santry in 1660. For a notice of Santry immediately
subsequent to this, and the rights of the Hollywood family therein,
see "Artane."

• Inquis. in Cane. Hib. t lb. t lb.

258 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

In 1673 the tithes of corn and hay of various townhinda in this
parish were granted to the Archbishop of Dublin and his sucoes*
sors, in trust^for the incumbent, subject to a rent of £6 per annum.
In 1678, the king presented Daniel Jadcson to the vicarage.

In 1688 Richard Lord Baron of Santry was attainted in King
James's parliament, as waa also William Barry, of Santry.

In 1697 the Rev. Richard Cahill was returned as parish priest
of Santry and Coolock, and resident at Artane, << in the parish of
Finglas.**

In 1706 the Rev* Mr. Jackson diedincvmbent of this parish.
It is remarkable, that while his father preceded, his son succeeded
him in this living. The latter held it until his death in 1751^ and
was one of the legatees of the celebrated Dean Swif^ who be-
queathed to him all his horses and mares, and all his horse furni->
lure ; <* lamenting,** he adds, '< that I had not credit enough with
any chief governor (since the .change of times) to get some addi-
tional preferment for so virtuous and worthy a gentleman. I also
leave him my third best beaver hat."

In 1732 died Nicholas Gemon, parish priest of Santry, where^
upon Andrew Tuite was ordained his. successor, by Doctor Luke
Fagan, then Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, who, jaro hoc
vice, united to this the parishes of Coolock, Clontarf, Dnimcondra,
Ratheny, Killester, Artane,. and Glasnevin.

In 1738 the nobleman before alluded to,' who inherited the
title of Santry with this locality, forfeited iiis lank by the murder
of one of his own servants. He was at the dose of this year in-
dicted and convicted for the, offence ; but his Ufe was saved by a
stratagem of his undo, Sir Compton Domville, who being proprie-
tor of Templeogue, from which Dublin was at the time exclusively
supplied with water, when all interest and intercession failed,
avowed his determination to withhold that necessary element, if
the last sentence of the law were enforced against his nephew. The
threat was effective, and the prisoner's escape connived at. He
subsequently died in Italy, whereupon Sir Compton succeeded to
his estates*

In 1744 the charter-school was opened here for sixty girls,
and was endowed with £50 per annum by the corporation of
Dublin. The late Right Honourable Luke Gardiner gave one

8ANTRY. 259

acre of land, rent free in perpetuity for its use, and thirty acres
more at £1 Ss. per annum for 999 years, while Primate Boulter
expended above £400 on its erection.

In 1 749 the king presented Mtddleton Cornyn to the *' vicar-
age'* of Saiitry, In 1776 the Rev. John Dowden died rector of
thij parish, and was succeeded by the Honourable and Reverend
Jamea Hewitt, On his death in iho following year, Thomas
Hastings was promoted to the benefice, and he was succeeded in
1781 hy Doctor Thomas Smylh, all these preferments having oc-
curred on royal pre5e»tation.

In 1794 the aforesaid Doctor Smyth had a grant of the reclo-
rial tithes of the parish, from the com missi oners of lib Majesty's
revenue, during hb incumbency, at the annual rent of £25.

The fee of Santry, has, within the present century, passed
to the Scottish family of Pockhngtouj and in 1815 its present
possessor, Sir Comptou PockUngton Domville, was created a ba-
ronetj his father having, by royal license, assumed the name and
arms of hb maternal uncle.

After passing through the village, and resuming
the northern road, the ancient mansion-house presents
itself. It is a square and spacious brick building, of
the "olden" arcliitecture with finishings of stone.
The principal apartments are of ample dimensions,
and contain some fine family portraits. The demesne
is adorned with a spacious pond, and some fine old
trees, and surrounded by a tall, massy, ivied wall, that
could full many a tale unfold of deeds ofnightljr
crime, perpetrated from its covert on the unguard-
ed traveller, in the ages of a less efficient police- The
echoes, however, that had been once busied with the
shrill whistles of these lawless wood-rangers, were now
weleomely responsive to the long and varied harmony
of the frequent thrushes.

In reference to its botanic habitats there are

s 2

260 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

found here aira ccBspitosa, turfy hair grass ; melica
cceruleaj purple mcHc grass ; hromus erectics, upright
brome grass ; lolium perenne, ray grass; triticum re-
penSf couch grass, that test of badly cultivated or ne-
glected farms; cardamine hirsutat hairy ladies' smock;
lathyrus pratensis^ yellow meadow vetchling ; senecio
tenuifolmsj hoary ragwort ; orchis viridisy frog or-
chis ; bunium flexuosum^ pig-nut ; luciola campestris^
field wood-rush ; chlara perfoliaia^ perfoliate yellow-
wort ; rosa arvensisy white trailing dog rose ; tor-
mentilla reptans, trailing tormentil. — In the woods,
festuca giganteaj tall fescue grass, a coarse grass, af-
fording little nutrition to cattle, but its seeds are
freely eaten by birds, and this appears to be its chief
use ; festuca sylvatica^ slender wood fescue grass ;
ulmus suherosa^ cork-barked elm ; sanicula Euro-
pcBay wood sanicle ; viburnum opulus, guelder rose ;
sambucus nigral common elder, a neglected but va-
luable tree in all its component parts — a magazine of
physic to rustic practitioners, and whose berries make
an excellent domestic wine. It is also said, that if
fruit-trees, flowering shrubs, corn, or other vegeta-
bles, be whipped with the green leaves of the elder
branches, insects will not attach to them. An infu-
sion of these leaves is good to sprinkle over rose-buds
and other flowers subject to blights and the devasta-
tions of caterpillars. The wood of the old trees is so
hard, and takes so fine a polish, that it is often used as
a substitute for the box-tree. From its toughness, it
suits for the tops of fishing-rods, needles for weaving
nets, &c. ; while the Romans, according to Pliny,

SANTRY. 261

made pipes and trumpets of it. There are also found
here various species of mushroom, as agaricus clavtis^
dgaricusplicatilis^ agaricus campanulatus ; chrysos^
plenimn oppositlfoliivm, opposite-leaved golden saxi-
frage ; oxalis acetosella, wood sorrel ; agrimonia
eiipataria^ agrimony; prumis spinosa, sloe» or black
thorn ; rt/hus Ido'us, raspberry, deriving its classic ap-
pellation of Ida^usj from its frequency on Mount. Ida;
fragaria i^e^crt* strawberry ; geum urbanunh common
avens ; tilia Europtsa, common lime tree ; anemone
nernorom^ wood anemone, whose blossoms in fine clear
weather expand to the sun, but in the evening, or wet
weather, are closed, and hang down : it is, however,
in some degree poisonous, and has been used in dye-
ing ; ranunculus aurlcomtis^ goldilocks ; ajnga reptans^
common bugle; scrophularia nodosa^ knotted fig-
wort ; car ex pendula^ pendulous sedge ; carejt re-
mota^ remote sedge ; po/j/podium acufeatum^ prickly
polypody ; h/pnum cuspidatum-, pointed hypnum. —
In the watery places, epilobium parmfloTunh small-
flowered willow herb ; geum rivale, water avens, the
rich combination of whose dark-green wrhikled leaves,
with the glowing red-brown of the stem and calyx,
and singularly delicate colours of the petals, added to
the graceful position of the flowers, render it one of
the most picturesque of our native plants ; ranuncu-
lus jlammula^ lesser spcerwort crowfoot \ sfachj/s pa-
lustfis, marsh woundwort; hyper kum quadrangulum^
square St John's-wort; hyper hum perforatum, per-
forated St. John's- wort ; hieracium patudosum^ sue*
cory-leavcd hawk weed; cnicus palustrts, marsh plume

262 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

thistle ; listera ovata^ common tway blade ; cares in-
termedia^ soft sedge ; carex pendtU(h pendulous
sedge. — In the meadows, orchis maculata^ spotted
palmate orchis ; agaricus ebumeus, a ^ecies of mush-
room, so called, because it has in every state the ap-
pearance of ivory. — ^By the ditches, Valeriana officii
naliSf great wild valerian, of the sceat of whose root
cats are said to be very fond, and to seem intoxicated
by it ; eleocharis paiustris^ creeping spike-rush ; cen-
taureascabiasa^ greateT knapweed ; smymium olu,sa^
trunif Alexanders ; ranunculus hederaceusy ivy crow-
foot; mentha hirsuta, hairy mint. — ^In the hedges,
lomcera periclymenum, common honeysuckle ; vicia
sepivmy common bush vetch, a vetch whose nutritive
matter consists almost entirely of mucilage and sugar ;
the latter, which exists in the nutritive matter of the
leaves of all grasses, holds in this species a less pro-
portion } hypericumandroscemum^ tutsal; hypericum
hirsutum, hairy St. JohnVwort ; and on the trunks of
the trees, lichen olivaceus^ olive lichen.

Before reaching Tubber-Bunny, thejiext locality
of any note, a more northerly road shoots out at left
by Corbally, anciently the fee of the Hollywood fa-
mily, and held by the Plunketts and Nugents succes-
sively under them, as of the manor of Hollywood. It
was a residence of the de la Hoyde family, in the
sixteenth and the early part of the seventeenth cen-
tury. They were also proprietors in free and com-
mon soccage of half the townland.* The fee of
the whole afterwards passed to Alderman Richard

• Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

TOBBER-BUNNY. 263

Barry, before mentioned as proprietor of Santry, who
died in 1686, seised thereof in free and common soe-
cage. Near the house is a grotesque castellated lodge.
This road afterwards passes into the townland of
Forest, no longer exhibiting those trees of growth
that gave it that denomination, but gay with groves
of lilac and laburnum, and shaded with hawthorns
of every variety. The fields too (12th June) pre*
senting the loveliest carpet of variegated vegetation,
the richest green ground spangled with red and white
clover, daisies, primroses, and crowfoot, in their gay*
est attire ^ while over all the most elegant and bril-
liantly coloured of native birds, the goldfinches, were
pouring their cheerful songs, and the robins were ex-
ultiug in the sacred safety which in this country they
are welcome to enjoy.

TOBBER-BUNNY,

otherwise Dardistown, succeeds % signifying in Eng»
lish, «*thc well of milk ;" and so called from a spring
there of peculiar softness, which was analyzed by Dr.
Rutty, and is by him stated to be impregnated with a
small quantity of an alkaline salt, combined with a
calcareous matter and a pittance of sulphur. Here is
a little village of scattered houses, " few and far be-
tween."

The Taylors were in the fourteenth century pos-
sessed of a great part of this denomination, of which
Richard Foster obtained a grant after the forfeitures
of 1641,

264 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

CLOGHRAN,

the next locality, is a rectory in the deanery of Swords,
and from an early period appropriated to the econo-
my of St. Patrick's. It extends over 1579a., 3r., 34p.,
comprised in four townlands, with a population, re-
turned in 1831 as 541 persons, of whom 475 were
Roman Catholics. Its tithes have been compounded
for at £184 12^. 3(/., per annum. Mr. Foster, an
absentee, is the chief proprietor in the parish. Land
within it is let at from £3 to £4 per acre, the wages
of labour being, to those constantly employed seveu
shillings per week, to occasional labourers eight shil-
lings.

The church is situated on the high, stony steep
that seems to have suggested the name of this Irish
denomination, commanding most extensive prospects.
Its belfry rises from the gable, and has three perfora-
tions. Near it is the glebe house, with four acres of
glebe attached, for the purchase of which the Board
of First Fruits gave £400 in 1809, and contributed
a like sum for building the glebe house, exclusive of
a loan of £392, for the latter purpose.

In the hollow, at the foot of the rock on which
the church was built, a vein of lead and copper ores
has been discovered, and worked for a short time.
Beside it runs a little rivulet, the same that washes
Kinsaly, and empties itself into the sea below Port-
marnock.

The church appears to have been dedicated to St. Doulogh, the

CLOOHRAN. 265f

son of Amalgad, whose festival is kept on the 17th of November.
At a remote period it was enumerated amongst the cWpendencies
of Swords, and, even in the time of Archbisb^'p Allen, the vicar
of Swords enjoyed the right of-^epulture of all persons dying in
this parish.* It was commonly called « Cloghran- Swords,*' to dis-
tinguish it from Cloghran by Hiddart, hereafter mentioned.

In the time of Henry the Second, according to Hanmer, Buryd,
the son of Owen Gwynneth, Prince of Wales, was Lord of Qogb-
ran, and it does appear by a close roll ip the Tower of London,
that in 1222 Richard styled of << Wales'* gave homage, fealty, and
relief to the king for six carucates of land, with the appurtenances,
in Cloghran and Ballybren. In a roll of 1224 this Welch proprietor
is again recognixed, but he is there named Roderick. He had
also the advowson of the church of Cloghran, which was in
1294 rated to the First Fruits as a distinct church, at four marks
yearly.

In the earlier part of the fourteenth century the Staunton
family were the proprietors of thb denomination, one of them,
Thomas Staunton, having married Johanna, a descendant of the
before-mentioned Welchman, and having got his title confirmed
by grant from Robert de Vere, Marquis of Dublin. Accordingly
in 1887, Thomas Staunton and Johanna his wife, had license to
lease one messuage and one hundred and forty acres here for lives,
reserving, therefore, for the first thirteen years, the service of a rose
on St. John's day, and an acreable rent of two shillings for every
ensuing year.* A scion of this ancient Norman family, it may be
remarked, was transplanted to Cork in the year 1310, whence it
immediately extended itself into Connaught. Later in the four-
teenth century it was a name of tenure in this county and in Kil-
dare ; in the fifteenth the Stauntons were of high consequence in the
counties of Meath and in the sixteenth and seventeenth are found
in the counties of Clare, Kerry, Kilkenny, and Galway. At the
dose of the fourteenth century Cloghran passed from their pos-
session to the Taylors, and accordingly in 1399, William Taylor,
chaplain, assigned all his rights in one hundred and forty acres
of this townland, one hundred and eighty acres in Corbally and

• Bepertorium Viride. t Rot. in Cane. Hib.

^66 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

\
Toberbunn^r, pareel of the manor of- Qogfaran, to trustees for cer-
tmn terms ^nd uses, with rei^ersioa to hinis^. He afterwards
conveyed this property absolutely to the Holiywoods.

Archbishop Aliens in' the Hepertorium Virid^ states this rec-
tory as of the patronage of ** the heirs of Hollywood, to wit, Barne-
wall and Nugent jointly and not alternately f* but adds, that the
Ticar of Swords had the sepulture of all dying within this parish.
For more particular information as to the rights of that vicar, see
«* Swords,** ad ann. 1489.

In 15d& the rectory of Cloghran was rated to the First Fruits
at £10 0#. 7d, Irish) whRe an inquisition of 1547 defines the ex-
tent and value of the economy tithes herej which in 1588 the dean
and chapter of St. Patrick's dembed as <* the tithes of com, hay,
and furze of Cloghran-Swordsi'* for sixty^one years, at the annual
rent of £2 6$.6d.

In 1611 Christopher Nugent had a grant of one hundred and
seven acres here, and other prembes, sixty-eight acres in Curragh,
sixty-eight acres in the Rath of Killossery, six acres near Santry,
twenty acres near Coolock wood, &c, aU being parcel of the estate
of John Burnell attainted. In 1614 Christopher Seagerson and
Walter Archbold were seised of a moiety of the town and lands
of Cloghran, oontainingfour messuages and one hundred and forty
aeres^ whioh they held of the king in capita, by knight's service.*
Ardibold% portion was forfeited by hb heir, Rowland Archbold,
in 1641.

The regal' visitation of 1615 reports the annual value of thb
church as' £24> and that its minister was James Keegan. In 1617
Nidiolas Meyler was promoted by the crown to ^e rectory, as
was Alexand^ Hatfield in 1640.

In 1^68 the tithes of Kilbride, Ballymore, andCloghran-Swords,
were -demised for twenty-one years, at the annual rent of £6.

In 1669 Arthur, Viscount Ranelagh, died sebed in free and
common soccage of half Cloghran, defined as containing I^Oa*
2r. 20p., the other moiety being, it would appear, then vested
in Richard Barry, who died seised thereof by similar tenure in
1686.

* Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

CLOGHRAK. 267

In 1674 the king presented Michael Hewetson to the rectories
of Cioghran and Swords, in which he was succeeded by Garrett
Barry in 1680, and this latter by Henry Scardeville in 1681.

In 1685 the tithes of Cioghran were reported to be of the
yearly value of £3, and in 1705 of £5 per annum. For a notice
at 1G97, see '* Swords/*

Id 1710 the king presented Richard Bambrick to this rectory,
ill i7iJ3 promoted John Wynne to the same^ as also iho folio whig
successive incumbeuts: — Joseph Davies in 1762^ Mark Wain*
wrighL in 1780, Edward Synge in 1781, John Baird in 1782, Wm.
LjsEerin 1804, and within the last few years Mr. Levifb, tUe pre-
sent incumbent*

Before leaving Cioghran it is to be observed, that
the road, wl\ich ascends to the churchy follov^rs thenee
a retired, rural course in view of Feltrini, through
the village of B^iskins, by Clonshaugh, or as more
descriptively termed in ancient deeds, Glynshaugh,
where was once a church, which Pope Clement the
Third confirmed in 1189 to the abbey of the Blessed
Virgin ; thence by a grotesque old brick edifice,
called Woodlands, now occupied by a Mr, Jervis,
and through a very pretty defile having at left Shrubs'
Hill, the highly ornamented seat of Mr. White, by
Artane, and so into the city.

The resumed course of this excursion from Ciogh-
ran into Swords exhibits much natural beauty, passing
over two hills and descending into the intermediate
valleys, while the elevation commands splendid views
of Howth, Feltrim Hill, Carrick Hill, Lambay, and
all the azure circuit of sea ; Swords and its interesting
ruins in front, apparently in a hollow, Brackcnstown
and its winding stream at left, and the elevated plains

268 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

of the northern part of this county in the remote per-
spective.

All the preceding localities being situated in the
barony of Coolock, the tourist, in his approach to
Swords, here enters

THE BARONY OF NETHERCROSS,

which seems to have derived its name from compris-
ing the principal part of the Croceoe, or cross lands,
lying in the northern portion of the county, and pre-
sents the singular appearance, that such a circumstance
must have (as before observed) necessitated, of six
component districts distinctly insulated in other ba-
ronies.

The whole barony, according to the survey of
1824, contains four parishes and parts of two others,
civilly subdivided into 105 townlands, assessed to the
ancient subsidies as 13,610 acres, of which 1012
were then accounted as waste. The parishes stated
are those of Swords, Portrane, Clonmethan, Finglas,
and parts of Lusk and Killossery. The surface of
this barony is level, the soil rich, entirely resting
upon limestone, and the inhabitants occupied wholly
in agricultural pursuits, especially tillage, for which
the barony, being remote from the capital, is pecu-
liarly appropriated. Ortelius's map places in this
part of the county the ancient family of the Taylors,
of whom a more particular account shall be given at
" Swords."

The lands forfeited herein in 1641 were returned as 8237 acres

SWORDS. 269

profitable, and 1 05 unprofitable, old Irish measure, while the com-
mons, between forfeited and unforfeited lands, were set down as
392 acres, and the glebe and^ church lands as 1759 acres. For a
further notice of the church lands in this barony, see at that of
« Coolock" in 1667.

The first locality, that occurs in Ncthcrcross, U

SWORDS,

a smaH but very ancient town, of about 330 houses,
and a population of 1727 persons, as returned in
1824. It is situated about seven Irish miles from
the metropolis, consists chiefly of one long wide street,
and was a borough in the Irish parliament, to which
it returned two members, the elective franchise being
in the resident householders- The Anchor Tnn,
which was the scene of the election contests on these
occasions, still attracts the eye of the traveller by its
ancient aspect.

" The remains of the buildings at present to be
seen here*'* says Bell, "are chiefly of the pointed
gothlc order* but from its appearance it must have
been one of the earliest specimens after its introduc-
tion into Ireland, The arches, as was usual at that
early period, are of a mixed stylcj some circular, others
pointed, but generally of rude workmanship- The
present walls enclose an area of great extent, and
several parts indicate that they were founded as niiich
for strength and protection as for any other purpose-
They were strongly fortified with towers* and their
exterior presents an embattled front, of an imposing
appearance, and from the constant ravages which thin

270 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

abbey siiffefr^d from their Danish neighbours, it is
evident these fortifications were not uncalled for/'
Here is also a round tower, with a perfect conical
top, on which, however, triumphant Christianity has
planted the cross. It is considered one of the plain-
est of these interesting structures, is calculated to be
seventy-three feet high, and stands about fifty feet
distant from the church. In the instance of this
tower, as in others, there is no projecting base, or if
there should be, it is buried beneath the surface
of the earth. Like a specimen at Brechin, in Scot-
land, described by Mr. Gordon, it " seems to shoot
out of the ground like a tree." The era and design
of these edifices shall be more particularly treated of
at the locality of " Rathmichael."

The situation of this little town is exceedingly
picturesque, and is best observed from the church-
yard in which stand the ivied round tower, the square
belfry of the old abbey beside it, (commanding from
its summit a most extensive view,) and a neat, new
church of cut stone in the pointed style, unfortunately,
however, constructed of the materials and on the site
of the ancient abbey. Over the communion-table of
this church, is a painting of the leper cured in the
pool of Bethsaida, while the window above it exhibits,
in painted compartments, figures of Moses, Malachi,
Ezekiel, Hosea, and Jeremiah. There are mural
monuments near the communion table, one to Doctor
Scardeville, Dean of Cloyne, who died in 1703, and
to some members of his family ; another to Doctor
Owen, Dean of Clonmacnoise, who died in 1761 j

SWORDS. 271

and a third to Christopher Hewetson, who diod in
1694, Dean of Christ Church and Viear of Swords^
On the floor, at the foot of the communion-taUey is a
tombstone of the date of 1587, to the memmy of James
Blackney and Elizabeth Taylor his wife- There is
also a mural slab near the entrance of the churcli to
Captain Berkeley^ who died in 1803* In the grave-
yard is a small but apparently a very aneient cross,
hut no sepulchral monuments worthy of notice, with
the exception of oue ancient stone commemorative of
. the Taylor family. — Close to the church is the glebe-
^ houscj with a glebe of 33a. 2r, 20p.* contiguous.
Descending from the church, by a fine old village
elm encircled with a scat of sodded stones, once sa*
cred to village gaiety and gosaipping^ and crossing
the little stream that waters this town, the visitor ap*
proaches the embattled enclosure whicli yet presents
considerable remains of the archiepiseopal palace, and
of the old chapel dedicated to St. Columb, the war-
der's walk round the castle walls, and several watch
towers. On the line of the walls, at one side is the
outer gable of a buildings popularly said to have been
that in which parliaments have been assembled. Its
window is very remarkable for the muUions and case-
ments, which are all of a red sandstone unknown in
this country. The whole interior of the edifice, as
also of several others which were included in the ex-

• It may be Femarked, tbat the acre able contents of glebes, miu
tioT% and forfeitetl estates, arc staled tbronghout tbis work in the
ancient Irish meaiurc, in respect to the documents wbtcli so respectively
report them.

272 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

isting walls, have been removed, and the circum-
scribed area cultivated as an orchard. In front of the
castle is the village draw-well, beside which are the
stocks, intended for the refractory portion of the
seneschaPs subjects, but now the usual roost of the
village poultry. South of the main street is the
Roman Catholic church, built about the year 1827)
and having a conspicuous steeple seventy feet high.

Four annual fairs are held in this town, but no mar-
ket. Several houses still exhibit ancient escutcheons of
inns, the Harp, the Anchor, the Black Bull, and above
all the Royal Oak, with King Charles blazing in scarlet
and gold through its ill furnished branches, and a
whole regiment bivouacking at its foot. But these
fair, outward signs, are but deceptive heralds as to
any accommodation or entertainment within. The
commons here comprised about 100 acres, while those
at Drynam, within the liberties, contained twenty.
Great encroachments, however, have taken place on
both, and but a small proportion now remains unen-
closed. The population of the town was in 1821
calculated as 1727» and in 1831 as 2537» the num-
ber of its houses was on the latter occasion stated as
484. Mr. Taylor and Mr. Cobbe of Newbridge are
its chief proprietors. The liberty of the manor com-
prises 1227 acres of the old Irish measure, extending
over the townlands of Bealingstown, New Grange,
Loughmartin, Brownstown, Rathlucastown, Santers-
town, alias Saucerstown, Rickanhore, Seatown, Ro-
gerstown, Parnelstown, Lusk, Lispobel, Swords,
RoUestown, &c.

SWORDS. ^73

The parish, in which it is situated, bears its name,
constitutes a prebend in St Patrick's cathedral, and
has been assessed to the ancient subsidies, and conse-
quently under the road acts as 3535 acres, comprised
in thirty-seven townlands. Its population, exclusive of
the town, was returned as 1185 persons. The rectory
is impropriate, one-third in the prebendary of Swords,
one in its vicar, and the other third in the economy
of St. Patrick's. The vicarage has been episcopally
united since 1810 to the curacies of Killeigh and
Killossery, the patronage being in the Archbishop of
Dublin. The vicarial tithes of this have been com-
pounded for at £252 per annum, while it is also to be
observed, that the vicar has the control of the rents
of the lands of the economy of St. Patrick's and their
other possessions here, subject to the trust mentioned
hereafter at the year 1431. He accounts annually
for this fund to the Archbishop of Dublin. The
prebendary has £102 annually, the rent reserved on
380a. of excellent land, held together with his por-
tion of the tithes of the parish by Sir Samuel Synge
Hutchinson, under a lease for twenty-one years. The
Down Survey and other ancient documents refer a
portion of this parish to the barony of Coolock, but
the survey and valuation return of 1824 classes it
wholly in Nethercross. It was once a rural bishopric,
and still gives its name to a deanery. The Roman
Catholic union comprises the parishes of Swords,
Malahide, and Lusk, having within its extent a cha-
pel at each of those places, and a chapel of ease at
Balheary. The fee in this parish principally belongs

274 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

to the see of Dublin. The acreable rent varies from
two to three guineas, while a cabin without land is
usually let for £2 10*, per annum. The number of
labourers in the whole Protestant union has been
stated as about 700, of whom two-thirds get constant,
and the remainder occasional employment; the wages
of the former class being about seven shillings, that
of the latter eight shillings per week. The lands are
principally used in tillage. Fibrous malachite, of a
grass-green colour, is met with here, as also copper-
green, partly massive, partly disseminated, of various
shades of green ; and specimens of abaethyst found in
this neighbourhood, are in the museum of the Dublin
Society.

According to the Annals of the Four Masters, one of the com-
panions of Heremon founded a fortress here, called the High Rath
of Swords.

In 512 the church is said to have been founded by St. Columb*
killo) who gave it a missal, written by himself; the edifice was ac-
cordingly dedicated to him ; there were, besides, within the town,
three chapels, one dedicated to St. Finian, which, with its adjoin-
ing cemetery, was situated on the south side, near to the vicar's
manse, on the road to Furrows ; one to St. Catherine, within the
parochial church ; while St. Brigid's ch^el was on the north side
of the town, adjoining to the prebendary's glebe, and not far from
the gates of the old palace. The latter had two burgages attached
to it, and near it was an ancient cross, called " Pardon Cross.**
Traces are also to be found upon record, of a chapel dedicated to
the Blessed Virgin, within the church of Swords, to which Hugo
Blackton, Archdeacon of Dublin, was a benefactor in I486.*
Here, likewise, yras a nunnery and a holy well.

In 1012 Swords was burned by the Danes, and again in 1016.

* Ma8on*8 Hist, of St. Patrick^s Cathedral, p. 49.

SWORDS. 275

After the battle of Clontarf, the bodies of Brian Boroimhe
and his son Morrough, were conveyed in solemn procession hither,
where they were deposited the first night amidst the prayers and
chauntinga of the fraternity. The funeral proceeded on the fol-
lowing day to Duleeky whence the monks of that establishment
conducted the bodies to their sepulchral destination At Armagh.

In 1020 the abbey was deatroyed by fire.

In 1028 died FiU Patrick O'Flaherty, Bishop of Swords*

In 1035 Sitric, the Danish King of Dublin, having devastated
Ardbraccan, Conor O'Melaghlin, in retaliation laid waste Swords,
« the city of Columb-kille."*

In 1069 the town was greatly injured by fire, and again in
1130, 1138, llfiO, and 1166, while in 1135 it was sacked, and
nearly depopulated by O'Melaghlin, King of Meath ; the sacrilege
was, however, avenged by the people of Lusk, who slew O'Me-
laghlin. Immediately after the English invasion. Swords was
granted to the see of Dublin, and so still continues annexed
thereto. In 1182 the Pope confirmed it to the Archbishop of
Dublin with its church and appurtenances, as previously granted
by Prince John, a right which Pope Innocent farther ratified in
1216. For a notice in 1227, see << Memoirs of the Archbbhops
of Dublin.**

In 1191 Archbishop Comyn granted to St. Patrick's church
the tithes of all his mills, except those of Swords, which he had
previously given to the monastery of Grace Dieu. The prebend
of Swords was then one of the thirteen canonries annexed to St.
Patrick's, as is recited in a Bull of Pope Celestine the Third, and
Walter Comyn, most probably a relative of the archbishop, was its
prebendary. It afterwards obtained the name of the golden prebend
in consequence of its great value, arising out of considerable de-
mesnes and tithes issuing from a large and fertile district.

In 1192 a patent was granted to the Archbishop of Dubhn for
an annual eight-day fair in the town of Swords, on the feast of St.
Columb-kille, and in 1197 King Richard granted a charter to this
place, by which each burgess was to pay for his burgage twelve

• Annals of tlie Four Masters.

276 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

pence annually. For a notice in 1227, see the <^ Memoirs of the
Archbishops of Dublin."

In 1280 Archbishop Luke allotted to the vicar of Swords the
small tithes of the lands within the manor, with the obventions
and altarages. In 1306 the prebend was valued at £40, and the
vicarage at £5, and in 1326 an inquisition was taken as to the ex-
tent of the manor. In the following year the Archbishop of Dublin
had a con6rmation of his rights herein, as also in 1394 from King
Richard during his sojourn in Dublin. In 1336 the celebrated
William of Wykeham held this prebend, then taxed to the First
Fruits at ninety marks, together with eleven benefices in England*
He was afterwards Bishop of Winchester.

In 1375 died Peter de Lacy, rector and prebendary of Swords,
in remembrance of whom a monument and a brass effigy have been
erected in the church of North Fleet, Kent. In 1378 the king
confirmed the right of the Archbishop of Dublin to this manor.

In 1386 John Netterville, Vicar of Swords, and Robert
Cruce, prebendary thereof, had license to go into England, with-
out incurring any diminution of their tithes under the penalties
against absentees. In the following year the latter dignitary had
a special permission from Robert de Vere, Marquis of Dublin,
entitling him to export for sale, corn and fish appertaining to his
prebend, to England, Wales, Bayonne, Bourdeaux, or Portugal.
For a notice in 1387, see << Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dub-
lin" at that year.

In 1397 a chapel was dedicated, within the church of Swords,
to the Holy Trinity, and endowed by a person of the name of
Brown with a messuage, a garden, and four acres of ground in
Rogerstown, for the pious celebration of his anniversary. In the
same year John de Melton, clerk, preferred a petition to the
privy council of England, claiming right to the prebend of Swords,
of which John Taaffe had, as he alleged, possessed himself by
force of bulls ^ostolic, although the same appertained to the
patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin, and had become void by
the death of Walter Bruges, the last prebendary.

In 1411 the king granted to John Tanner, the prebend of St.
Columb of Swords in the cathedral of St. Patrick's.* In 1418

• Rot, Claus. 12 Hen. IV. in Cane. Hib.

SWORDS. 277

Walter Prendergast, Vicar of the church of St. Columb of Swords,
being sued for two-thirds of the profits of his benefice, valued at
five marks per annum, and forfeited by the act of absentees,
pleaded the king's letters of license, and was accordingly released
from the penalty.

In 1423 Brande, Cardinal of Placentia, was nominated by the
king to the prebend of Swords, and a writ was directed to the
archbishop, commanding him to assign to the cardinal a stall ia
the choir, and a voice in the chapter, and another likewise to the
dean and chapter. In 1431 this prebend, which had been, as ob-
served, called the golden prebend, was divided into three portions;
one being assigned to the prebendary, another to the vicar, and a
third to the economy of St. Patrick's cathedral, who were to
maintain therewith six minor canons and six choristers, the residue
to be expended in furnishing lights, in repairs, and in defraying
other necessary expenses. This appropriation was confirmed by
act of parliament in 1467.

In 1461 Thomas Pollard, Vicar of Swords, had license to ab-
sent himself from his parish for one year without incurring any
forfeiture of his titlies.

A return of a jury at Swords in 1465, finds that << the Arch-
bishop of Dublin takes wrecks of the sea and weym, holds pleas
de vetito namio, hues and bloodshed, holds Englishmen in prison,
and levies fines on them, has the correction of bread and beer,
and the ell weight, bushel, and gallon, by the king's standard and
under his seal, holds all pleas in his court, except forestal, rape,
arson, treasure-trove, has his own coroners, &c. within his Uberties."

In 1474 a parliamentary grant of twenty shillings per annum
was made to Datne Eleanora, Prioress of the nunnery of Swords,
and her successors.

In 1484 Doctor Walton, Archbishop of Dublin, being blipd
and in an infirm state of health, voluntarily resigned his dignity,
and reserved to himself for a maintenance the manor of Swords
during his life, which reservation was confirmed to him by act of
parliament in the following year.

In 1489, after full hearing of a cause between the vicar of
Swords and the dean and chapter of St. Patrick's, the Archbishop
of Dublin made a final decree, whereby he decided that the vicar

278 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

and his predecessors had always possessed the altarages of the
parish' of Swords and crofts of the same, with half the mortuaries^
the wax and offerings of persons dying in the parishes of Malahide,
Killossery, and Cloghran, also the tithes, great and small, of the
whole demesne of Sederton and Crucefield, parcel of said demesne
of little Farrow, and of the whole parish of Kinsaly,

In the sixteenth century there were five exterior chapels
subservient to the mother church of Swords : 1st, Kinsaly already
spoken of ; 2nd, Lispobel near Clonmethan ; drd, Killeigh,
which Allen calls the most stately of all the chapels of Swords ;
4th, Killester ; and 5th, Malahide. It had also, in more ancient
times, four other subseryient chapelries, which are now indepen*
dent parishes : 1st, Cloghran-Swords ; 2nd, Dunabate; 3rd, Bal-
griffin ; and 4th, Coolock. The registry of this monastery was
in existence in the time of Ware, and is cited by him.

In 1530 the vicar of Swords was entitled to all burial fees of
persons dying within the parish. For a notice in 1533, see at
" Grace Dieu."

In 1535 Edward Bassenet was, on the death of Richard Fits
Simons, promoted to this bene6ce, then in the gift of the crown,
the see of Dublin being vacant by the murder of Archbishop Allen.
In 1539 this prebend was taxed to the First Fruits at £32 14«. OcLy
and the vicarage at £22 6s. Sd, Irish.

In 1541 the Abbot of St. Mary's Abbey was by inquisition
found seised of a close in the lands of Swords, extending from
the highway from Swords to Lissenhall on the east, to the rivu-
let called the ringwater on the west, from the road leading from
the street of Swords to a passage across -the said rivulet, called
Scottstones, on the south, and to the fields called the Spittle Acre
on the north, comprising about two acres of land, and held under
the see of Dublin by fealty and suit of court.

In 1547 the Archbishop of Dublin, with the consent of his
chapters, had license to convey to Robert Eustace, prebendary
of Mullaghiddart and others, the office of constable of his castle
and manor of Swords, whenever it should become vacant by the
death of Thomas Fitz Simons of Swords, the profits and those of
other detailed premises to be received by the trustees, to the use
of Patrick Barnewall of Grace Dieu, Esq., in fee. In the^ same

SWORDS. 279

year an inquisition was taken as to the extent and value of this
prebend, when it was found to possess the demesne called the
Court of Lissenhally containing an orchard, a garden, 150 acres
of land, together with sundry cottages and gardens, eight cottages
in Swords, with eight acres of arable land, and eight gardens, to-
gether with the tithes of certain townlands, and the altarages, (the
oblations of all being left to the vicar.) See also a notice of
Swords in the same year, at " Malahide«*' By a subsequent in-
quisition it was found, that the priory of St, John the Baptist, of
Dublin, was seised of a messuage and thirty acres of land in the
townland of Rathengle, near Swords. The religious house of
Grace Dieu was also seised of thirty acres here, called Francums-
land. The petit canons of St. Patrick's had a portion of the
tithes called the Burgage tithes, the precise extent of which was
ascertained in 1657, by survey, directed by the parliamentary
oommissioners, but those have been since relinquished. The vi-
cars choral of St. Patrick's were abo entitled to certain tithes
here ; and the prior of Holmpatrick was seised of four tenements
with their gardens and eight acres of land in the town of Swords,
which were, with other possessions of that house, granted to Jho-
mas Fitz Williams.

In 1554 Queen Mary presented Arthur St. Leger to this rec-
tory, void by the death of John Derrick, and then in the gift of
the crown by reason of the see being vacant. In 1564 Doctor
Daly, Bishop of Kildare, held the vicarage with other preferments
in commendam.

In 1578 the queen issued a mandate for the better establish-
ing of the corporation of Swords, and to make known the limits
and bounds of the franchises and liberties thereof, and commis-
sioners were thereupon appointed to settle the boundaries, two
miles on every side from the town. The town was then accounted
according to amcient records, one of the ** walled and good towns'*
of the county.

In 1585 Swords sent its first members to parliament, burgages
having been assigned to its burgesses at twelve pence yearly pay-
able out of each. In recurring to this parliamentary assemblage
it is worthy to be noted, that it was the first that had any claim to
be called Irish, the first that extended beyond the limiU of the

280 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

English pale, the first that embraced the interests, and cherished
the feelings of the ancient, as ^ell as of the new inhabitants of
Ireland.

In 1598 the parsonage was demised for sixty years at the rent
of £44 per annum.

In 1613 William Blakeney and John Fitz Simons were the
representatives for the borough of Swords, in the parliament that
abolished the baneful distinction of English subjects and Irish ene-
mies, which so long biassed the administration of justice, and fo-
mented national disunion. The measure would have acted most
beneficially, if the more unholy distinctions of recusant and loyal-
ist. Catholic and Protestant, introduced in the time of James,
were not upheld as substitutes for national animosities.

The regal visitation of 1615 values the vicarage of Swords
at 100 marks, Christopher Hewetson being then its vicar, and
prebendary of Howth ; while it states the prebend of Swords
to be worth £100 per annum.

In 1620 George Taylor died seised of SOa. in Swords, called
Francumsland, which had been parcel of the possessions of the
monastery of Grace Dieu, twenty, two messuages, and 160a., Mar-
shallstown, 40a., Greenock, two messuages and 100a.* For a
notice in 1621, see the << Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dublin,"
^ that time.

In 1637 Sir Edward Bolton had a demise for forty-three years
of the prebend of Swords, the court, town and lands of Lissen-
hall, all the tithes thereof, and all the tithes and glebe lands be-
longing to said prebend, from the Archbishop.

Here, in 1641, the first Irish army of the pale assembled, pre-
paratory to the commencement of that civil war which desolated
the land. (See potty at ** Corballis.") Amongst those who attend-
ed on this occasion, were Luke Netterville of Corballis, George
Blackney of Rickenhore, George King of Clontarf, Christopher
Hollywood of Artane, John Talbot, Richard Goulding, Thomas
Russell, Christopher Russell, Patrick Caddell, William Travers,
Richard Barnewall, Laurence Sealing, &c. This assembly took
place on the ninth of December, and on the following day .the

* Inquis. in Cane Hib.

SWORDS. 281

Justiced issued their warrant, commaDding them << to separate on
sight thereof, and that nine of the principal persons so assembled
should appear before them at the Council Board, by ten of the
clock the next morning, to shew the cause of their assembling to-
gether in that manner." To this warrant they returned an answer,
on the same day, to the following effect : '< That they were con-
strained to meet there for the safety of their lives, which they
conceived to be in no small danger, having been forced to forsake
their dwellings on the last Tuesday at night, by the rising out of
horse troops and foot companies, who, on the said night, killed
four Catholics for no other reason but because they bore the
name of that religion, and that they had' been before put into
many fears by certain intelligence given them of unexpected at-
tempts against their lives. Wherefore they desired ardently to
be in some certain way assured by their Lordships of the safety
of their lives, before they ran the hazard thereof, which was the
only motive that hindered them from manifesting that obedience
which they knew to be due to their Lordships' commands."* In
consequence of which. Sir Charies Coote was sent hither by the
Lords Justices with such forces as could be spared. << He found
the access to the village straitly blocked up, yet so managed the
attempt as he soon forced them to flight, beating them out of
their fortifications, and killed two hundred of their men, without
any considerable loss on his side^ more than Sir Lorenzo Carey,
second son of the Lord Falkland, late lord deputy, a gentleman
of excellent and ingenious parts, well-principled, and one whose
virtues and resolution promised much happiness to the state.
After settling of which place Sir Charles Coote returned to Dub-
lin."!

In the ensuing forfeitures Walter Jordan lost 41a. in this
parish, John Cadell, 9a., George Blackney, a mansion-house, a
water-mill, sundry messuages, and 200a., Christopher Russell,
dd5A., Richard Goulding, 100a., Laurence Healing, 300a., and
John Taylor, the mansion-house of Swords, and upwards of SOOa.,
in its vicinity.

In 1642 John Taylor and George Blackney, Esqrs., the sit-

♦ Curry*8 Histor. Rev. B. v. C. xiv.
t Borlase*8 Irish Insurrection, p. 71*

282 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

ting members of parliament for Swords, were removed from the
house, by the puritan partj, on account of their attatehment to
the kiog^s cause.

In 1663 John Taylor was found to have a mansion-house,
twenty messuages, and 190a. of land in Swords, and sundry other
kmds in this county, of which he died seised in 1680**

In 1666 Sir George Lane had a grant of 40a., plantation mea-
sure^ here, as had the Archbishop of Dublin in the following year,
of Jordan's land in Swords, 41a., forfeited in 1641 by Waher
Jordan, and of Talbot's land in Swords, 50a., like measure, with
various other lands in augmentation of the see. For a notice in
1674, see " Cbghran."

In 1675 the celebrated Andrew Sail obtained the prebend of
Swords, with other preferments. He was born at Cashel, in tho
county Tipperary, and educated from his infancy in the Boman
Cathohc faith. In 1 639 he was sent abroad to complete his studies,
and became Professor of Controversy in the College of Salamanca,
and afterwards Professor of Divinity at Pampeluna, Pkcentia, and
Tudela, having been previously admitted into the society of the
Jesuits, among whom he took the fourth vow, and was made Pro-
fessor of Moral Theology in their college at Salamanca. At length,
being remtoded to Ireland, with the title of Superior of the mi»*
ston of the Jesuits in that country, about the year 1673 he re*
tired to Ca^el, ^ desiring," as he says himself in the preftu:e to
one of his works, <* to spend the remnant of his days unknown,
to prepare better for the long day of eternity." At this very
time, however, under the instrumentality of Dr. Price, tlie Fro*
testant Archbi^top of that province, he conceived and avowed in
writing the intention of conforming to the communion of the £»•
tablished Church. In May, 1674, he made a public declaration of
such his conformity in the church of St. John at Cashel, and in
July following preached in Christ Church, Dublin, before the Earl
of Essex, on the reasons of his change of faith. While in Dublin,
he was lodged in Trinity College, and was there admitted to the
degree of Doctor of Divinity, when he published a Thesis, contlun-
ing two conclusions touching the main points in controversy be-

• Jnquis. in Cane. Hib.

SWORDS. 283

tween the two churches ;y?r«^ that out of the Roman Church there
was a safe way for salvation, and^ecand^ that the way of the Church
of England was safer to salvation than that of the Church of Rome.
In 1675 he went to Oxford, and there also was created a Doctor
of Divinity, and in 1677 was domestic chaplain to King Charles,
about which time several works of controversy were published
against him, to which he replied in a work entitled, « True Ca-
tholic and Apostdic Faith maintained in the Church of England,"
which he dedicated to Lord Essex. Soon afterwards << he was
rewarded,'' writes Dr. O'Conor,* "with the prebend of Swords^
the rectory of Ardmulchan, and the chantorship of Cashel ; and
he, who would have died a beggar had he remained a Catholic,
lived to 1682 in affluence purchased by the trade of religion." He
resided at Cashel to the time of his death, which occurred in April,
1682, in the 70th year of his age. He was buried in the Cathe-
dral of St. Patrick, Dublin.

In 1681 the archbishop decided what should be paid to the
iHirate of Swords for serving the cures of its chapels, having pre-
viously appointed a commission of inquiry to ascertain the real
value of its tithes, as before-menUoned at " Malahide.**

In 1683 George Viscount Lanesborough died, seised in free
and common soccage of forty acres here.f . For a notice in 1685,
see " Turvey." In 1689 Viscount Beamount of Swords was
one of those attainted in King James's parliament. In the s«ne
year that monarch renewed the charter of this borough, on which
occasion Gerald Dillon, Esq., Prime Serjeant, was to be its port-
reeve, with thirty-one burgesses, amongst whom appear the names
of five Bamewalls, three Russells, John Stanley, Matthew Caddel,
John Taylor, &c.

lu 1697 Mr. Christopher Walsh was returned as parish priest
of Swords, Cloghran, and Kin«ily, resident in Swords, and hav*
tng Mr. John Jones as his curate.

In 1700 the Archbishop of Dublin claimed an estate in fee in
Seatown, and various lands in and about the town of Swords, as
forfeited by Bartholomew Russell, and granted to the see of Dub-

• Catalog. Biblioth. Stow. v. i. p. 270.
t Tnquis. in Cane. Hib.

284 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

11 n. His claim wasy however, postponed, he being a petitioner
before the house of commons, but these lands were afterwards
granted to the see.

In 1703 Dean Scardeville bequeathed a sum of money, for the
support of a school in this parish for the children of poor Protes-
tants. The charity was sought to be recovered in 1779 by bill in
chancery, but the suit was abandoned. In 1719 Archdeacon
Hewetson granted to the incumbent of Swords and hb succes-
sors for ever, << all that and those the lands whereon the mill
stands, together with the said mill, for the sole use and support of
a schoolmaster licensed by the Archbishop of Dublin and his suc-
cessors from time to time for this parish," but neither has this en-
dowment ever been so applied.

In a lease of the prebendal lands of Swords in 1721, there is
a special reservation of the benefit of the chancel and of the tithes
of twenty acres glebe land assigned to the vicar. There is a do-
cument of the year 1744 extant, defining the respective endow-
ments of the prebendary and vicar of Swords, to which a map of
the demesne lands is annexed.

In 1786 the act was passed, alluded to at << Malahide," for the
extension of a navigable canal from that town through Swords to
the river of Fieldstown.

In 1793 the Rev. James Verschoyle, afterwards Bishop of
Killala, was the incumbent of Swords.

In this borough, of notorious fame in the annals of bribery and
corruption, the right of election was at this time vested in the
Protestant inhabitants six months resident previous to the election.
A writer, under the name of " Falkland," thus humorously de-
scribes its political aspect in 1790.

** General Massey some time since cast a longing eye on this
borough, which he considered as a common open to any occupant,
and, to secure the command of it to himself, he began to take and
build tenements within its precincts, in which he placed many ve-
teran soldiers, who, having served under him in war, were firmly
attached to their ancient leader. Mr. Beresford, the first com-
missioner of the revenue, who has a sharp look out for open places,
had formed the same scheme with the General of securing this
borough to himself, and a deluge of revenue officers was poured

SWORDS. 285

forth from the Custom-house to overflow th6 place, as all the arti-
ficers of the new Custom-house had before been exported in the
potato-boats of Dungarvan to storm that borough. The wary ge-
neral took the alarm, and threatened his competitor, that, for every
revenue officer appearing there, he would Introduce two old sol-
diers, which somewhat cooled the first commissioner's usual ar-
dour ; thus the matter rests at present, but, whether the legions of
the arm/, or the locusts of the revenue, will finally remain masters
of the field, or whether the rival chiefe, from an impossibility of
effecting all they wish, will be content to go off like the two kings
of Brentford, smelling at one rose, or whether Mr. Hatch's interest
will preponderate in the scale, time alone can clearly ascertain."

At the Union the compensation allowed for this
borough (£15,000) was vested in trustees, (as it was
of the class called potwalloping boroughs, and not
private property,) for the purpose of educating and
apprenticing the children of the humbler classes,
without any religious distinction ; and a handsome and
commodious school-house was erected at the cost of
£2000. The school was opened in 1809, and is at
present attended by about 300 children. The trus-
tees, namely, the Chancellor, Archbishop of Dublin,
Bishop of Kildare, Provost of Trinity College, Dean
of St. Patrick's, and the Vicar of the parish, for the
time being, were incorporated under the name of
" the Governors of the School at Swords," on the
trust of applying the surplus interest, afler paying all
expenses of the school, in apprenticing the children,
and any further surplus in premiums for the general
encouragement of agriculture and manufactures. The
salary of the superintendant is £70 per annum ; that
of the schoolmaster fifty guineas, with certain allow-
ances for servants and coals. There are six boys and

286 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

six girls apprenticed out of it every year, and a sum
of £12 paid with each apprentice. The physician
to the dispensary has an allowance of £80 Irish per
annum. Connected with this establishment, and sup-
ported out of its funds, are a dispensary and coal-yard,
for supplying with medicine, gratis, when wanted, and
with coals at a reduced price, the parents of the poor-
est children, who have regularly attended the school.
The other indigent inhabitants of Swords, upon pro-
pet recommendation, are entitled to the benefits both
of the dispensary and of the coal-yard. There is also
a national school here, which receives £15 annually
from the Board of Education, the number of its pu-
pils was 165 in 1834 ; and an infant school has been
very recently established.

At the commencement of this century, a corn
mill, a windmill, and a watermill existed here, while
there was also a corn mill at Balheary.

The only public oflBcers, who have at any time
exercised jurisdiction within the limits of this corpo-
ration, were a portreeve, and the seneschal of the
manor of St. Sepulchre, which is also part of the pos-
sessions of the Archbishop of Dublin. The portreeve
is appointed by the archbishop, and annually sworn
at the Michaelmas court leet in Dublin, before the
seneschal of St. Sepulchre. He has no salary, nor
any emolument, except the annual profit of three
acres of land lying near the town, for which he re-
ceives about £8 per annum. The portreeve formerly
held a court here once in the week, entertaining all
claims within the manor, but otherwise, without limit.

SWORDS. 387

His authority, however, having been questioned, he
has wholly discontinued to act, and the ordinary Petty
Sessions court is now the only town jurisdiction.

Swords gives the title of viscount to the family of
Molesworth.

The succession of members of parliament for this
borough has been as follows : —

1613 WilliaD9L Blakeney and John Fitzsimons ;

William Blakeney and Robert CarweU.
1639 John Taylor and George Blackney.
1661 Sir W. Tichbome and John Povey ;

Sir W, Tichborne and Denny Muschampe.
1669 (King James's parliament) Francis Barnewall of Woodpark,

county Meath, and Robert Russell of Drynham, Esqrs.
1692 Richard Forster and John Reading.
1695 John Reading and Thomas Ashe.

1703 Right Honourable Robert Molesworth and James Peppard.
1713 Right Honourable Robert Molesworth and Plunkett Plun-

kett.
1715 Plunkett Plunkett and Richard Molesworth.
1721 Plunkett Plunkett and Honourable Richard Molesworth.
1727 Honourable Bysse Molesworth and Edward Bolton.
1759 Honourable Bysse Molesworth and Thomas Cobbe.
1761 Thomas Cobbe and Hamilton Gorges.
1769 John Hatch and John Damer.
1776 Thomas Cobbe and Charles King.
1783 Charles Cobbe and John Hatch.

1790 John Claudius Beresford and Lieutenant-General Eyre
Massey.

1797 Frauds Synge and Charles Cobbe, Esqrs.

1798 Francis Synge, Esq. and Colonel Marcus Beresford. The

former TOted against the Union.

The succession of its prebendaries has been thus
far ascertained : —

288

COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

1190 Walter Comyn,

-^— Alanus.

1227 Robert de Blond.

1247 Iterius de Brochard.

1302 William de Hothum.

1366 William of Wickham.

1375 Peter de Lacy.

1378 Robert Cruce.

1386 Walter Bruges.

1397 John Taaffe.

1411 John Tanner.

1423 Brande, Cardinal of Pla-

centia.
1431 William Cruise.
— . Blackton.

1468 Walter Kingdom.
1496 Richard EusUce.
1509 Edward St. Lawrence,

alias Howth.
1535 Christopher Vesey.
Anthony Skeffington.

1535 John Derrick.

1554 Anthony St. Leger.

1555 Patrick Byrne.
1576 Edmund Enole.
1598 William Pratt.
1615 Richard Jones.
1642 Samuel Pullein.

1661 Roger Holmes.

1662 WiUiam Williams.
1664 John Rogan.
1675 Andrew Sail.
1682 Henry Scardeville.
1703 Thomas King.
1708 Robert Dougat.
1715 John Wynne.
1727 Hugh Wilson.
1735 John Espin.
1744 John Owen.
1761 Fowler Comings.
1783 Henry Lomax Walshe.
1834 William Magee.

The Family op Taylob,

as having been so long identified with this locality, demand here
some especial notice. Premising, that the escallops in their ar-
morials afford faithful evidence, according to the interpretation of
heraldry, of their achievements in the Holy Land ; they early
passed over from France, and established themselves in the sister
kingdom. In 1183 Ralph Taylor was returned by the Bishop of
Durham as holding certain lands at Stanhope, as was Aldelm
Taylor by the Bishop of Winchester, as resident in Winchester ;
and other individuals of the name are traced at the same time
flourishing in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire.

About the year 1250 Gilbert Taylor was sheriff of the latter
county. In the middle of the thirteenth century they had ex-
tended into Oxfordshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Lincoln-

THE FAMILY OF TAYLOR. 289

sbirey Essex, Kent, Herefordshire, Huntingdonshire, Somerset- \
shire, Wiltshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, and York- \
shire. At Beverley, in the latter county more especially, \vas ^
established Edward Taylor, chief falconer to Henry the Third. i

.In 1271 Isabel, relict of John Fitz Alan, impleaded Galfrid le
Tayleur and Agatha his wife for a third part of the manor of Ro-
dington, in Shropshire, and the Tayleurs of Buntingsdale, in that
county, have flourished from that period in the highest respecta-
bility.

In 1273 Nicholas, the second squ of the before-mentioned
Edward Taylor of Beverley, passed into Ireland, where he had issue
John, who had issue Walter, erroneously called William in some
documents. In 1280 Alexander le Taylor had considerable grants
of Jewish forfeitures in the city of York.

In 1289 Philip de Taylor granted to his son Walter in fee his
possessions in Erde, in Kent, which lay partly within the king's
barony, and partly within the liberties of the archbishop* The
above Phih'p de Taylor was about the same time Slnriff of
London. In 1293 Roger de Taylor is mentioned as a landed
proprietor in Hertfordshire, and styled << Dominus de Valencia.**
In 1295 Walter le Taylor was burgess for Thresk in the parlia-
ment at Westminster, as was William le Taylor for Truro in that
held at York in 1298, in that of Westminster in 1300, and in that
of Carlisle in 1307. In the commencement of the fourteenth
century, John de Taylor is mentioned as of St. Alban's, another
of the same appellation as burgess of Berwick, and branches of
the family had taken root in Westmoreland, Surrey, Worcester-
shire, and Sussex. In 1301 Robert Taylor was member of par-
liament for Oakhampton, as was Thomas le Tailour for Wycpmb*
In 1302 Benedict le Tailour was representative for the borough
of Crediton, and Robert le Tailour for Helstone in the parliament
of Carlisle in 1307.

In 1309 John, the son of Thomas le Taylor, appears on re-
cord in connexion with the lands of Rathosbem in Ireland ; and,
in the following year, Thomas le Taillur was one of those sum-
moned to attend the parliament of Kilkenny.

In 1311 Edmund Taylor was one of the two warders ap-
pointed and sworn to keep the keys of Aldgate during the distur-

290 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

bances relative to OaTeston, while Hago le Taylor was burgesii
for Ryegate, and William le Taylor for Carlisle in the parUamenl
of London. In 1312 Geofl&ey Taylor was knigbt of the shire for
Hertfordshire. In 1313 Reginald le Taylor was member of par*
Hament for Helstone, as was Alan le Tailor for Worcester in the
parliament of Westminster, and again in 1318 in that of York.
Id 1316 Ralph le Taillour was certified to be lord of the town-*
ship of Hyde, near Blandford in Dorsetshire, and in 1321 Wil**
liam le Taillur was member of parliament for Shaftesbury.

la 1^7 Richard le Tuyt had license to enfeoff William le
Taylor, clerk, of the manors of KiUalwyn, Castlecor, and Fithenagh,
in the county Mfeath, which were held of the king in capites
while in 1342, and the four subsequent years, John Taylor mm
one of the high bailifl^ of the city of Dublin, and in 1358 was its
provost, aa the chief magistrale' was then called. In 1348 Wil-
Ham, thjB son of John Taillour of Staniford Brieve, was seised
of various lands in Yorkshire, which he hdd as of the manor of
Pontelract. The Tullour family were aho at this time landed r
proprietors in Cumberland and Lancadbire, in addition to iimt]
former locations.

In 1376 the abbot of the house of the Blessed Vu-gin of Duit-
draynan ha Galway, on his leaving Ireland, had liberty to appoint
as his attorney, during hb absence, Robert Loughborough and
Adam Taylor. The same Adam was subsequently one of the
attorneys for the parson -of Callan on a similar occasion. In 1382
Thomaa Taillor, clerk^ was constituted a baron of the Exchequer
in Irektndy and in 1386 another Thomas Taillor had license, for
himself and his issue, to eiyoy the benefit of the law of England^
and yet another of the same name was appointed chief remem*
brancer of the £schequ» in tkb country. In 1386 Thomas
Taylor was constituted treasurer of the liberties of Kilkenny, and
deputy seneschal thereof.

In 1387 Walter Taylor of Swords, son of the John Tayler
mentioned at the year 1273, had license and authority from
Robert de Vere, Marquis of Dublin, to purchase fish of all kind
in every harbour of the county Dublin, and to cq^port same, fet
sale in Chester or Liverpool. This Walter was also seised of
lands in Drogheda, and became the purchaser of Rathfeigh in th<i

THE FAMILY OF TAYLOR. 291

dounty Meath from the Bernard family. His eldest son and heir wbs
Alexander Taylor of Swords,^of whom hereafter. In the same year,
Henry Taillour is mentioned as of the county Kilkenny. In 1890,
WUham Taylor was Vicar of Pierstown Laundy. In 1394 the
executor of John Taylor deceased received from the treasury, a
sum of £59 due of old hy King Edward the Third to Thomas
MinoC, Archhishop of Dublin, whose claim had by various assign-
ments passed to said John Taylor. In 1899 the Taylors were
established in the counties of Carlow and Kildare, and in the same
and the following year (1400), Richard Taylor was one of the high
bailiflk of Dublin.

In 1400 PhiHp Taillour of Bristol was one of those, to whom
the king granted the extraordinary license, ** that they, with as
many men-at-arms as they shall choose to have and provide at therr
own expenses, may take their course for and pass over to our said
realm of Ireland in four ships, and there make war against the re-
bels and enemies of us, being in the town of Galway, which in times
past was in our ligeance and obedience, until now of late that by
one Sir William Burgh, knight, by the assent and treason of cer-
tain traitors therein, the said town was taken in war, and also, the
islands of Arran, which always be fuU of gallies, to ensnare, cap-
ture, and plunder our liege English ; to the end and effeqt that if
the aforesaid Philip Taillour, &c., shall be able by force and armed
power to obtain and take the town and islands aforesaid, they may
have, hold, and inhabit the same town and idands, taking to their
own use and profit all and singular the property of the aforesaid
rebels and enemies of us, and all that which they shall be able so
to obtain and take ; the rights, rents, revenues, services, and other
monies whatsoever to our royal prerogative there pertaining, al*
ways saved unto us. Saving also the right of the son and heir of
Roger le Mortimer, late Earl of March, being within age and in
our wardship, kcJ*

In 1408 John Taylor is mentioned as of Boystown in the
county Kildare, while in the same year, Alexander Taylor of
Swords was one of three, whom the king assigned to collect a sub-
sidy withm the Crosslands of Dublin. This Alexander was the
son of Walter as before-mentioned, and intermarried with Agnes,
the daughter of William Swinock or Simcock, by whom he ac-

292. COl/NTY OF 0UBL1N.

Quired additional property in Drogbeda. He seems to have been,
the purchaser of the inheritance at Swords> and to have built a.
mansion house in that town. His eldest son and heir, John Tay-
lor, married Margaret daughter of Thomas Brailes^ by whom he

had issue John Taylor, married to Catherine, daughter of .

Hamlin of Smithstown. The children of this last marriage were .
Agnes Taylor, married to Thomas de la Field of Fieldstown, and

James Taylor, who, by his first wife Anne, daughter of Se-

grave of Ktlleglan, had issue Richard Taylor of Swords, hereafter
mentioned^ and Robert Taylor, from whom descended the Taylors,
of DubHn, aldermen and merchants of that city. James Taylor's <>
second wife was Agnes Warren, by whom he had also issue. In
] 406 the king conferred the dignity of Archdeacon of Ossory on
Adam Taylor. In 1412 and the two following years, as also in 1422,
Stephen Taylor was one of the high bsuhffs of the city of Dublin.

In 1415 Edmund Taylor was one of the knights in the retinue
of the Earl of Oxford at the battle of Agincourt. In 1520 in the
royal appointment for the progress to Canterbury, and thence to Ca-
lais and Guisnes, to meet the French king, Doctor Taylor was one
of ten attendant chaplains, to each of whom six servants and four
horses were allowed. The suite of Cardinal Wolsey alone, on this
occasion, comprised twelve chaplains, fifty gentlemen, 238 ser-
vants, and 150 horses.

In 1539 Patrick Taylor was seised of Ballydowd near Lucan,
which, having been afterwards the seat of Sir Edmund Sexton Perry,
took the name of Edmundsbury, and is now the residence of Mr.
Needham. In 1543 Richard Taylor of Swords, son of the before
mentioned James Taylor, was joined in commission with said ,
Patrick, to try and decide what temporal and spiritual pos-
sessions became, by the dissolution of monasteries, vested in the
crown within the county of DubUn. He married Elizabeth
Barnewall, daughter of Robert Barnewall of Riverstown, by whom
he had issue four daughters, the eldest of whom, Catherine, was
first married to Christopher de la Hoyde, Esq., Recorder of Dro- ^
gheda, and on his decease to Patrick, fourth Baron of Trimlestown.
Richard had also a son, Robert Taylor of Swords, hereafter men-
tioned.

In 1 553 Dr. John Taylor, Bishop of Lincoln, was one of the

THE FAMILY OF TAYLOR. ^93

English prelates deprived by Queen Mary. Amongst those Eng-
lish gentlemen, who compounded for their estates during the
Commonwealth, were John Taylor of Moscroft in Yofksliire,
Richard Taylor of Ernley in Sussex, John Taylor of Brimstage in
-Cheshire, John Taylor of Sandal in Yorkshire, John Taylor of
Ichenor in Sussex, William Taylor and Richard Taylor of Clap-
4iam in Bedfordshire, William Taylor of London, tlien late of
Windsor, Thomas Taylor of Oclepichard in Herefordshire, John
Taylor of Oldham in Lancashire, John Taylor of York, merchant,
and John Taylor of Todcaster in Yorkshire. In 1557 John Taylor,
clerki was constituted Master of the Rolls in England, and was
afterwards Chancellor.

In 1558 Robert Taylor, the son and heir of the before men-
tioned Richard of Swords, was seised of Ballyowen in the county
Dublin. He married Alice, daughter of Thomas Fitz Simons of
Dublin, and had issue by her George Taylor his heir, and other
children. George was Recorder of Dublin, and in the Irish par-
liament of 1585 was one of its representatives. In 1586 Francis
Taylor was one of the sheriflFs of the city of Dublin.

About this time flourished in England, Doctor Thomas Taylor,
Fellow of Christ's College, a zealous puritan divine of the Eliza-
bethean age. In 1595 Francis Taylor was Mayor of Dublin, and
at the same time, Mr. Joseph Taylor, the friend of Philip Mas-
singer, appeared as the original actor of Hamlet, instructed by
Shakspeare himself. He performed the part for upwards of forty-
five years, was master of the revels to Charles the First, died in
the year 1653, and was buried at Richmond.

In 1602 Thomas Taylor was settled at Rigmore in Sussex,
and from him has descended the line of the Marquis of Headfort,
his grandson Thomas having, in the year 1653, come into Ire-
land with the celebrated Sir William Petty, with whom he had
contracted the strictest friendship. They conjointly undertook
and perfected the Down Survey, although the maps were pub-
lished in Sir William Petty's name only. In 1660 he disposed
of his estates in England, and purchased in Ireland the town and
townlands of Kells, and others of great extent in the county
Meath. After the restoration of King Charles the Second, he
was appointed a commissioner of the Court of Claims, and was

294 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

also a comipissioneT of that held for persons irsaqported into
Connaught and Clare in 1675. His only daughter married Snr
Nicholas Acheson, ancestor to Viscount Gosford. His son, Tho-
mas Taylor, was created a baronet of Ireland in 1704, and the
grandson of this Sir Thomas was, in 1747, advanced to the peer-
age by the title of Baron Headfort of Headfort» and created Earl
of Bective in 1766, as was his son, Marquis of Headfort, ia 1800.

In 1603 the before-mentioned George Taylor of Swords was
a party in a recovery suffered of the Caddell estates in this coun->
ty. He died in 1620, seised, as mentioned at << Swords," and ai
<< Newcastle." His eldest son and heir, by his first wife Johaiuia
Jans, was Michael Taylor, who, at the time of said George's de^
cease, was Bg^A thirty-six, and married to the daughter of ■
Russell of Drynham, by whom he had issue John Taylor his heir»
and four other sons. In 1618 John Taylor was one of the English
undertakers or settlers in the county of Cavan, and had assigned
to him 1500a., called Aghieduff, with a castle and bawn therein.

In 1629 Francis Taylor, of the line of the before-mentioned
Robert, was one of the aldermen of Dublin ; while in the par-
liament of 1689 John Taylor, the heir of Michael of Swords, was
one of the representatives of that borough. He married Mary
the daughter of John Pagan of Feltrim, by whom he had issue John
Taylor his heir, and two other sons. John, the elder, sustained the
confiscations and losses mentioned at Swords ; and the sufferings
of his son John the younger, under these privations, and his re-
sistance to being transplanted into Connaught up to 1659, when
he obtained a decree confirmatory of his old estate, are detailed
in an interesting manuscript still preserved by the family. At
the court of daims, consequent upon the forfeitures of this period.
Captain Marmaduke Taylor was a claimant for lands in the coun-
ty of Cork, Nathaniel Taylor in the counties of Cork and Tip-
perary, Thomas Taylor in Cork, the Queen's County, and Meath,
Timothy Taylor in the King's County, and Walter Taylor in the
county of Galway.

In the English parliament of 1641 Mr. Taylor, a barrister
and representative for Windsor, was impeached for saying, in dis-
paragement of the house, in reference to the Earl of Strafford's
death, that << they had committed murder with the sword of justice;^

THE FAMILY OF TAYLOR- 295

«ncl that he would not for a world have so much blood lie oti hib
conscience, as did on theirs for that sentence ;** which words
bein^ proved against him^ he was expelled the house and voted
incapable of ever being a member. He was also committed to
, the Tower during pleasure.

At the surrender of Arundel Castle, Captain Thomas TaykHr
Was one of the officers taken prisoner by Sir William Waller. In
1652 Captfluns Taylor and Peacock, in two English frigates, eu*
gaged two Dutch men-of-war on the coast of Flanders, took one
and caused the other to be stranded. In 1654 died John Tay-
lor, the water poet, of whom Pope says —

** Taylor, their better Charon, lends an oar.
Once swan of Thames, though now he sings no more.**

He was a remarkable instance of uneducated genius, as himself
notes-^

^ I must confess I do want eloquence,
And never scarce did learn my accidence ^
For having got from possum to posset,
I there was gravelled, cou}d no forther get**

In 1657 Nicholas Taylor, brother of the aforesaid John the
elder, was found, on a parliamentary survey, seised of 160a. in
Swords. His nephew, John the younger, heir of John the elder,

married the daughter of Moore of Ballina, by whom he had

issue Michael Taylor his heir, and other children.

In 1660 Doctor Jeremy Taylor was promoted to the sees of
Down and Connor, was soon afterwards made vice-chancellor of
Trinity College, Dublin, for its special regulation, and had also
the administration of the bishopric of Dromore conferred upon
him.

In 1680 John Taylor the younger, before-mentioned, died
seised in tail male of the family estates in Swords, Marshabtown,
Rathcoole, Greenock, &c., as did his eldest son, Michael Taylor,
without issue male in 1684, leaving John Taylor his brother and

heir, who subsequently married Alice, daughter of Browne

of Clongowes- Wood, his first wife, by whom he had one daughter.
By his second wife, Helen, daughter of Richard Fagan of Fel-

296 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

trim^ hehadJohn Taylor his heir, and eight other children. This
John also married twice. By his first wife, Miss Cusack of Rath*
vddrony he had a daughter ; hy his second, Catherine Everard of
Randalstown, he had Christopher his heir, George who died un-
married, and Penelope married to EUiward Mapother of Kiltee«
yan. Christopher married Ellen, daughter of John Caulfield, by
iwhom he had ten children, of whom James Joseph Taylor is now
the surviving heir, being of the seventeenth generation from the y
above-mentioned Edward Taylor of Beverley. Jane Elizabeth
Taylor, his sister, is married to Josiah Forster, Esq., formerly of V
St. Croix in the West Indies, by whom she has issue, James
Fitz Eustace Forster. \

In 1687 died Silas Taylor, an antiquary of much ability, bom
at Harley in Shropshire.

Amongst those attainted in King James's parliament, were
Arthur Taylor of the county Tipperary, and Joseph Taylor of
the county Kerry, while John Taylor was one of the burgesses in
the new charter then granted to Swords, In 1692 Robert Tay-
lor was one of the members of parliament for the borough of
Askeaton.

In 1703 that admirable scholar, the Rev. John Taylor, was
born in Shrewsbury, where he received the early part of his edu-
cation. He was afterwards chancellor of Lincoln, and author of
various works.

In 1716 was born in Ireland George Taylor, the son of a re- -
spectable clergyman, who afterwards emigrated to America, and,
having by prudent management and great industry amassed a
large fortune, purchased a considerable estate there in the county
of Northampton, which he represented in the provincial assembly
that met at Philadelphia in 1764, and in 1776 he was one of those
who signed the memorable declaration of American independence.
About the commencement of this century another branch of the
family settled in Gal way, of which town Walter Taylor was mayor
in 1731, Anthony Taylor sheriff in 1735, and Thomas Taylor
mayor in 1768. «

In 1727 William Taylor was sheriff of Derbyshire, and in 1731
died Doctor Brook Taylor, a native of Edmonton, in Middlesex,
the intimate friend of Sir Isaac Newton, a very able mathemati-

THE FAMILY OP TAYLOR, 297

cian, and author of many scientific works. In 1766 died John
Taylor, a learned critic and philologisti born at Shrewsbury, and
about the same time died Doctor John Taylor, a learned dissent-
ing teacher, born near Lancaster.

In 1788 died Sir Robert Taylor, an eminent architect, and
above all that of his own fortune. When he began life, he said
\ke was not worth eighteen pence, and the accumulation of his pro-
fessional labours amounted at the time of his decease to £180j000.
There is a handsome monument to his memory in Westminster
Abbey. In the same year appeared a very remarkable work on
the Platonic docti^ne, from the pen of Mr. Thomas Taylor, the
singular scope of which may be conjectured from the introductory
avowal, that << the religion of t)ie heathens has, indeed^ for
many centuries been the object of ridicule and contempt, yet the
author of the present work is not ashamed to own, that he is a
perfect convert to it in every particular, so far as it was understood
and illustrated by the Pythagoric and Platonic philosophers.''

In 1809 Lieutenant Taylour of the Tigris commanded a ha-
Eardous boat expedition in the Bay of Rosas, in which he had such
signal success as to capture or burn all the vessel^ ^nd take or
destroy the supplies destined for the French army in Spain. In
1613 Captain Taylor of the Sparrow took possession of the Castfe,
of Castro, on the Spanish shore of the Mediterranean, and in the
same year Captain B. W. Taylor of the Apollo took the islands of
Augusta and Carzolo, in the Mediterranean, and in the foUowing
year that of Paxo, in the Adriatic.

Other records of this family, in connexion with the county of
Dublin, are scattered through this work, and may be traced by
the General Index.

Near Swords is Seatown, formerly an estate of the
Russell family, and recognised as such in the Act of
Settlement. It is now the residence of Mr. Arthur.
Balheary, the ancient fee of the Lords Kingsland, Is
also in the vicinity, and has a Roman Catholic chapel
of ease, from which a remarkably straight and well
shaded road leads to Lispobel and RoUestown. At

298 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

MOORTOWN,

about a mile from Swords, are the uninteresting
ruins of a chapel, presenting a remarkably large, un-
roofed, square apartment, with broad low windows
slightly carved, but utterly without tombs or any
traces of religious reverence.

Il was more anciently called Glassmore, and, according to the
calendary of Cashel, is memorable for the martyrdom of St. Cro-
■an and all his monks, by a band of pirates in the commencement
of the seventh century.* He is styled abbot and martyr, and hAi
festival is kept on the 10th of February. Other authorities refer
this event to a Glassmore in Munster.f St. Angus thus eulogises
this holy man : — ** SteUa lucida, propago feHx, thesaurus aureus
praefulgidds et ezimius, Cronanus sanctus absque macule, sol
luddus Glasmorensis." Its tithes belonged to the petit canons of
St. Patrick, and accordingly in 1759 the tithed of Taylor^s land,
Hilltown, Moortown, &c. " commonly called and reputed to be
the petty canons' and choristers' tithes ;" likewise all the tithes,
great and small, of a certain part of the lands of Moortown were
leased to Robert Wilson for twenty-one years at £20 per annum.

This townland contains about one hundred and
eighty acres, was the fee of Lord Trimlestown, and
is now that of Mr. Cusack.

Leaving Swords, and continuing the northern
road, the handsome seat of Mr. Baker appears at
lefib, with a pretty river flowing through it in graceful
windings and over several artificial falls. Thence to
the village of

* Camden*8 Britannia, vol. iii. p. 561.
t See Colgan*s AcU Sanctorum, p. 303.

TUBVEY. 299

TURVEY,

the ancient estate of the Barnewalls, Lords Trlmles-
town, and Barons of Turvey.

A straight avenue, still scantily sentinelled with
the survivors of a forest, conducts by the margin of a
little stream to the family mansion, a plain but vene-
rable building surrounded by some fine old trees. In
it are some family portraits and other paintings. On
this townland was formerly an excellent com mill, of
which now scarcely a trace remains. It is also obser-
vable that iron appears to manifest its presence here
in a coarse reddish earth.

In 1240 the prioress of Granj grauted to Master Richard de
St. Martin the church of Turvey, alias Dunabate, for his natural
life, at the annual rent of £10, he paying also in the name of the
prioress a mark annually to the church of Swords.*

In 1385 Hugh Bermingham was appointed seneschal of the
manors and lordships of Turvey, Rush, Corduff, and Ballyscadan,
with power to demise the same to farmers, and to remove such aa
he pleased, and set the lands to others, to appoint receivers, and
do all other things for the good government thereof which he
should deem ezpedient.f The manor comprised the denomina-
tions of Claffardstown, Danyestown, &c.

In 1461 the king granted to Sir William Wellesley the office
of chief butler of Ireland, with the manors of Turvey, Balscaddan^
and Rush, and other manors, for his life, at the service of a red
rose. The grant recites that the same had belonged to James
Botiller, late Earl of WilUhire.J

By inquisition of 1515 Sir Thomas Butler, seventh Earl of Or-
mond, was found to have died seised of the manors of Lusk, Tur-
vey, Rush, and Balscaddaa.

• Lib. " Crede Mihi," fo. 103.

t Rot Pat in Cane Hib. X lb.

300 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

In 1532, when King Henry notified that for certain arduous
causes, with the consent of his lieutenant and the lords spiritual
and temporal and council, he had determined to unfurl and
display his banner at the hill of Owenstown^ in the county of
Dublin, and summonses and distringases were issued against all
those absent, who were bound to render scutage on such an occa-
sion, amongst these, process issued from the exchequer to the
Earl of Ossory, on account of his manor of Turvey.

In 1556 Thomas Earl of Ormond granted this manor and its
seneschalship io Sir Christopher Bamewall, a lawyer of considera-
ble eminence, who was high sheriff of the county of Dublin in 1560,
and died here in 1575. Turvey has since constituted a principal
seat of his family, the present mansion-house having been erected
by him, as appears by the arms and inscription over the west gate,
** The arms of Sir Christopher Barnewall and Dame Marion Sherle,
alias Churley, who made this house in anno 1565."

In 1645 Nicholas Barnewall was created Baron of Turvey and
Viscount Barnewall of Kingsland.

In 1658 Cromwell directed by his letter that Lord Kingsland.
should have a lease of his house at Turvey, and £500 per annum
set apart for him, which was done accordingly.

In 1685 Henry Lord Viscount Kingsland passed patent for
Turvey and its subdenomi nations, 432 acres, and the mill thereto
belonging, the towns and lands of Ballawley, Ballystroan, part of
Hodgestown, Fieklstown, with the fair, &.c. the outlands of Swords,
with part of the town of Swords in several parcels, 74 acres, the
mill and mill race of Killossery, the town and lands of Grace .
Dieu, with the tithes thereof, &tc., Drishogue 222 acres. Grange
of Ballyboghill 395 acres, &c., Skiddow and Ballgeeth 360 acres,
Rob's- Wall 115 acres, coneyburrow of Portmarnock and the mill
thereunto belonging 336a. 1r. &c., also the tithes of the towixand
lands of Rob's- Wall, the manor, town, lands and preceptory of
Kilmaiohambeg, &c.

In this demesne the writer of these pages witnessed
the felling of a noble ancient tree, and surely there
is truth in those philosophers who found ** tongues in

THE FAMILY OF BARNEWALL. 301

treea." As this beauty of the wood, with all her leafy
honours round her, tottered and groaned upon her.
amputated roots, it seemed as if the Hamadryad was
deeply complaining from her sylvan temple. With
the enthusiasm of the ambassador, whom Livy pour-
trays so affected as by the presiding intelligence of an
oak of centuries, it was almost the first impulse to
arrest the arm of the woodcutter, and certainly the
confirmation of his deforming work could not be wit-
nessed. In a remoter glade, and under the fantastic but
richly furnished branches of a beech, as umbrageous as
Tityrus himself could have enjoyed, it was more con-
genial to muse upon the achievements of the noble
name, on which Turvey has the honour of conferring
one title.

Th£ Family of Babnbwall.

"It is a reverend thing/' says Bacon, "to see an ancient
castle or building not in decay, or to see a fair timber tree sound
and perfect, how much more to behold an ancient noble family,
which hath stood against the waves and weathers of time." The
incident, above alluded to, especially suggested the quotation, and
to no line could it have been more justly applied, than to that
which is the subject of this little memoir. " The Bamewalls,''
says Stanihurst, " came from little Britain, where they are at this
day a great surname." In 1066 " le Sieur de Barneville^ was
one of the knights in the train of William the Conqueror, as
Bromton's list runs :

Barneville et Berners,

Cheyne et Chalers.
In 1078 the Conqueror, having pursued the insurgent Saxons to
the Roman wall, returned to York in triumph, and there bestowed
upon Roger de Barneville the manor of Newton in Cleveland, and
various other lands which his immediate descendants possessed

302 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

until the fourteenth century. The aforesaid Roger, together with
his brother Hugh, on the declaration of the Holy War at the
Council of Clermont in 1095, hastened to receive upon their
habits the consecrated cross. In the following year they joined
the banner of Duke Robert, wintered in Apulia, and early in 1097
sojourned for some days at Constantinople, where, in the Blan-*
ch^mal palace, de BarneviUe and the rest of the Duke of Nor*
mand/s retainers did homage to the Emperor Alexius, and
received for this acknowledgment the most expensive presents.
The subsequent achievements of de BarneviUe against the Sultan
Kilidge Anslan, the Solyman of Tasso, are the theme of the most
glowing eulogies from the Latin historians. Roger ultimately fell
before the walls oi Antioch. His third son Roger was one of the
military retainers of Robert de Bruce, and finally became a monk
in the abbey of St. Sauveur le Vicomte. The family was also esta-
blished in the twelfth century in Southamptonshire.

Fn 1170 Jordan de BarneviUe was one of the knights bound to
render military service for his possessions in the Duchy of Nor-
mandy, which he lived to see subdued by Philip Augustus, to
whom, in 1204, he vowed allegiance. At the dose of the twelfth
century, the family is traced in the records of Essex, Suffolk,
Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Wiltshire, Middlesex, and a highly re<*
spectable branch at Hockworthy in Devonshire.

About the same time some of its members passed into Ireland,
where, <' upon their first arrival,** says Stanihurst, <^ they won
great possessions at Beerhaven, but were at length, by conspiracy
of the Irish, headed by the O'Sullivans, all slain, except one young
man, who then studied the common laws in England,** Hugh
a^uu Ulfran de BarneviUe, to whom, on his return, King John, in
1215, granted the lands of Drymnagh and Tyrenure in the Yale
of DubUn, which his posterity held until the reign of James the
First, when it was granted to Sir Adam Loft us. This Hugh gave
twenty ounces of gold to the crown for the custody of the son of
WiUiam Trum, and the daughter of Adam Rudipat, his wife, and
of their lands during their minority, which was accordingly granted
to him, saving the dower of Adam Rudipat's widow. Hugh died
without issue, whereupon Reginald de BarneviUe, his brother, suc-
ceeded as his heir, acquired considerable accession of property by

THE FAMILY OF BARN E WALL. 303

royal gfint, and waa the direct ancestor of tbe Lords of Trim-
lestowm About thb time the Augustinian monastery of Odder
was founded by one of tbe funily.

In 1277 and the immediate subsequent years, Gilbert de
Barneval was summoned to perform military service ag^nsC
X#leweUyn, Prince of Wales. Members of the £Bjnily were at thiir
time considerable landed proprietors in Middlesex, Devonshire,
and Yorkshire. In 1319 John de BemeviUe was knight of the
shire for Somersetshire.

In 1848 and previously, Sir Wdfran Bamewall was seised of
I^lbrue in the county of Meath, with the advowson of its church,
and about the same time Reginald de Bamewall was seised of
Tyrequre in the vab of Dublin, as hereafter mentioned. In 1378
John de Barneval, knight, was summoned to a great council to be
hdd in Dublin. In 1438 John Bamewall, the ancestor of the
Lords of Kingsland, was sheriff of the county of Meath. In 1485
Christopher Bamewall of Crickstown, was Chief Justice of the
King's Bench in Ireland, he was the son of Sir Wolfran de Barne^
wall by the daughter of the celebrated Lord Fumival. In 1462
Robert Bamewall, for his good services to the king^s fiither when
in Ireland, had a grant constituting him a baron of parhament, to
hold said dignity to him and his heurs male by the title of Lord
and Baron of Trimlestown, with an annuity of £10 payable by the
Prior and Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, out of the farms
of the Sidmon-leap and Chapelisod ; and the further privilege of
b?ing of the King's Council in Ireland during life. At the same
period. Sir Nicholas Bamewall of Crickstown, the lineal ancestor
of Sir Aylmer Bamewall, baronet, and brother of said Robert
Lord Trimlestown, was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in^
Ireland.

In 1474, when the brotherhood of St. George was constituted
by parliament of thirteen of << the most noble and worthy per-
sons within the four shires," Bamaby Bamewall, brother of Chris-
topher of Crickstown, C. J. of the K. B., was one of the three
for the county Meath. They were to assemble annually at Dub-
lin, on St. George's day, to express their zeal for English govern-
ment, and thence were styled the fratemity of St. George. To
their c^tain, who was to be chpsen, for one year, on their anni-^^

304 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

versary, were assigned as his train 120 archers on horseback, and
forty other horsemen with one attendant to each. The archers
were to receive sixpence daily pay, the others, for themselves and
their attendants, fivepence, with an annual stipend of four marks.
Thus was the defence of the English pale entrusted to 200 men
and thirteen officers, with such tumultuary levies as might be
raised on any sudden emergency. To support this armament the
fraternity was empowered to demand twelve pence in the pound
out of all merchandises sold in Ireland, except hides and the
goods of freemen of Dublin and Drogheda. They were also em-
powered to make laws for the regulation of their society, to elect
new members on vacancy, and their captain had authority to ap-
prehend outlaws, rebels, and all who refused due obedience to
law. In 1487 Christopher, the second Lord Trimlestown, was
one of the Irish nobles deceived by the pretensions of Lambert
Simnel, for which, however, he received pardon in 1488. Lord
Trimlestown sat in the parUament of 1490, and, attending the Earl
of Kildare into Con naught, was present at the battle of Knock-
tow. In 1495 Thomas Barnewall was second Baron of the Exche-
quer in England.

In 1509 John (afterwards third Baron of Trimlestown) was no-
minated second justice of the Court of King's Bench. In 1522 he
was appointed Treasurer of Ireland^ and High Treasurer in 1524.
In 1532 he received a fee-farm grant of certab lands in the
county Louth, and in 1534 was constituted Lord High Chancel-
lor of Ireland, which office he held till his decease. The annals
of the Four Masters, speaking of the invasion of Munster, by the.
Lord Deputy agadnst the O'Briens, in 1510, record an engagement
which took place near O'Brien's Bridge, in which, amongst others
" on the English side," fell Barnewall of Crickstown. In 1586
the aforesaid Barnewall, Lord of Trimlestown, while chancellor
of Ireland, was joined with Sir William Brabaion in a foray on the
lands of O'Connor in Carbury. In 1537 he was one of those de-
puted to parley with O'Neill, on which occasion he affected a
peace with that chieftain. His son Peter was solicitor general of
Ireland in 1534. In the parliament of 1541 the Baron of Trim-
lestown was one of the sitting lords. In 1547 Patrick Barnewall,
of the Kingsland line, was a sergeant-at-law, and in 1550 was

THE FAMILY OF BARNEWALL. 30^

created Master of the Rolls, while in 1559 James Barnewall was
Attorney-General for Ireland. At the hosting of Tara, Robert
Barnewall attended to do military service, in right of lands in the
county of Dublin; and in 1560 Patrick Barnewall, Baron of
Trimlestown, was one of the sitting lords in the parliament held
by the Lord Deputy Sussex.

In 1563 Sir Christopher Barnewall, whose political informa*
lion was much esteemed, was the popular leader of the parlia-
ment, and strongly resisted the suspension of Poy mug's law. In
1568 he vehemently inveighed against the constitution of the
Irish House of Commons. First, because there were certain bur-
gesses returned for sundry towns, which were not corporate and had
no lawful voice in the parliament. Secondly, because certain sherifib
and certain mayors of towns corporate, had returned themselves ;
and thirdly, because a number of EngUshmen were returned to be
burgesses of such towns and corporations, which some of them
never knew, and none at all were resident and dwelling in the
same, according as by the laws was required. In 1572 "Robert
Barnewall, Lord of Trimlestown, a rare nobleman, and endued
with sundry good gifts, having wholly wedded himself to the re-
formation of his miserable country, was resolved for the whet-
ting of his wit, which, natheless, was pregnant and quick, by a
short trade and method he took in his study, to have sipt up the
very sap of the common law ; and, upon this determination, sail-
ing into England, sickened shortly after at a worshipful matron's
house, where he was, to the great grief of all his country, pierced
with death, when the weal public had most need of his life." —
Some years before his decease, this nobleman was joined in com-
mission with Hugh, Archbishop of DubHn, for the preservation of
the peace within the pale, against Shane O'Neill. In 1575 died
at Turvey the before-mentioned " Sir Christopher Barnewall,
knight, the lanthorn and light as well of his house as of that part
of Ireland where he dwelt ; who, being sufficiently furnished as well
with the knowledge of the Latin tongue as of the common laws of
England, was zealously bent to the reformation of his country ; a
deep and a wise gentleman, spare of speech and therewithal pithy,
wholly addicted to gravity, being in any pleasant conceit rather
given to simper than smile, very upright in dealing, measuring all

306 " COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

his affairs with the safety of conscience, as true as steel, close and
secret, fast to his friend, stout in a good quarrel, a great house-
holder, sparing without pinching, spending without wasting, of
nature mild, rather choosing to pleasure where he might harm,
than willing to harm where he might pleasure." His is the mo-
nument hereafter noted as still existing in the north able of the
church of Lusk.

In^the parliament^of 1585 Lord Trimlestown sat as a baron,
while John Barnewall was one of the representatives for Drog-
heda, Robert Barnewall for Ardee, and Richard Barnewall for
the county Meath, Sir Patrick Barnewall ofCrickstown also sat in
that parliament. At the general hosting at Tara in 1593, Sir Pa-
trick Barnewall of Crickstown brought four archers on horse-
back as his service, as did Sir Patrick of Turvey one archer for
Turvey, and four for Grace Dieu in defence of the county Dub-
lin ; this latter was a patentee to a great extent of monastic pro-
perty in the counties of Dublin, Meath, Galway, Kildare, and
Roscommon. He also was buried at Lusk. . In 1597 the Baron
of Trimlestown and his son attended the standard of the Lord
Deputy in his incursion on O'Neill. It was found necessary,
however, to detach the latter with a thousand men to attack an
English associate of O'Neill, named Tyrrel, who, affecting to fly,
drew his enemies into a defile concealed by trees, where he was
enabled to attack them in front and rere, utterly defeated their
forces, sent their young commander prisoner to O'Neill, and gave
his name to the locality of Tyrrelspass.

In 1605 Sir Patrick Barnewall, the great agent of the Irish
recusants, was, on account of his zeal in their behalf, by the king's
command sent in custody into England, and committed to the
tower of London. The Enghsh council, consisting of the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, &c. thereupon
required Sir Arthur Chichester, Lord Deputy of Ireland, and his
council, to answer the accusations which Barnewall made against
the said deputy, the most important of which they considered, that
he complained of precepts being sent forth in Ireland under the
great seal to compel men to go to church. About this time, Ro-
bert Barnewall of the county Meath line, and a lawyer of Gray's
Inn, published an abridgment of the second part of the Year Book

THE FAMILY OF BARNEWALL. 307

of King Henry the Sixth, which, as it contained many cases con-
cerning Irish affiurs, he dedicated to Sir Robert Gkurdiner, Lord
Chief Justice of Ireland. In thb dedication he observes, << that
among all the volumes of the law he had read, the second part of
Henry the Sixth was the worthiest to be heeded by all who should
intend the manner of proceeding of law in Ireland.** In 1606
occurs a curious notice in reference to the daughter of the afore-
said Sir Patrick Bamewall and Valerian Wellesley, who being a
minor, his guardian contracted for his marriage with that lady ; on
attaining, however, the age of fourteen, he came personally into
the Court of Exchequer, and there in full court protested against
the contract, as << being fully resolved in my own mind to keep
myself at liberty, until God shall grant me best judgment to make
choice for myself.**

In 1612 Robert Liord Trimlestown was one of the six peers of
the Pale who addressed, to a monarch habituated to the most ab-
ject flattery, the honest remonstrance well known to every reader
of Irish history, especially complaining of the deponng the most
loyal of the magistrates for not taking the oath of supremacy, and
also requiring a thorough corporate reform. << And so upon the
knees of our loyal hearts we do humbly pray, that your highness
will be graciously pleased not to give way to courses in the general
opinion of your subjects here, so hard and exorbitant, as to erect
towns and corporations of places consisting of some poor and beg-
garly cottages, but that your highness will give direction that there
be no more created till time, or traffic, or commerce, do make
places in the remote and unsettled countries here fit to be incor-
porated, and that your majesty will benignly content yourself with
the service of understanding men, to come as knights of the^shires
out of the chief countries to the parliament.'* And these noble-
men offered to prove their allegations in person, and begged per*
misaon so to do ; *< for we are those by the effusion of whose an-
cestors* blood the foundation of your highnesafs empire over this
kingdom was first hiid.** In the parliament of 1613 Robert Barne-
wall was one of the representatives for the county Meath, and in
1621 Patrick Barnewall of Shankhill, in the county Dublin, was
abo seised of very considerable possessions in the county Wicklow.

In the priorities of Lord Strafford's celebrated procession in

308 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

1634, Lord Trimlestown walked after Lord Dunsany and before
Lord Howth, the youngest being foremost. Lord Dunsany sub-
sequently claimed precedence, but his petition was disallowed. In
the parliament of 1639 Nicholas Barnewall of Turvey, and Peter
Barnewall of Tyrenure were the representatives for the county of
Dublin, while Sir Richard Barnewall of Crickstown was one of
those for the county of Meath, and Patrick Barnewall of Kilbrew
for the borough of Trim. This Sir Richard raised and command-
ed one hundred horse at his own charges in the ensuing troubles^
and on one particular occasion despatched Christopher Barnewall
of Crackenstown, and Andrew, son of Patrick Barnewall of Kil.
brew, with two hundred men under their command, to defend the
town of Kilsallaghan against the English army.

In 1641 Barnewall of Rathesker, a colonel of the Irish army,
and deputy custos rotulorum of the county Louth, was taken pri-
soner by Lord Moore in the action of Tullyallen, and his castle
with great store of provisions taken and plundered ; while about
the same time, " Patrick Barnewall of Kilbrew, one of the most
considerable gentlemen of the Pale, a venerable old man, a lover
of quiet, and highly respected in his country, having surrendered
himself to the Earl of Ormond, and received a safe conduct from
Sir William Parsons, was nevertheless upon his arrival in Dublin
imprisoned and put to the rack ; which," says Leland, " he endured
with so steady an avowal of his innocence, and such abundant evi-
dence was offered in his favour, that the Justices were ashamed of
their cruelty, and to make some amends to the unhappy gentleman,
he was permitted to reside in Dublin, and his estate protected
from the general havoc of the soldiery." He had been one of
those present at the great meeting on the hill of Crofty. At the
same era of trouble. Lord Trimlestown attended the gathering on
Tara Hill, and was one of the eight noblemen, who signed the
letter of remonstrance against the intolerance of the Lords Justices^
In the subsequent measures, adopted by the confederate Catholics,
for raising soldiers in the several baronies of the Pale, that of
Navan was assigned to this nobleman, as were those of Ratoath
and Dunboyne to Sir Richard Barnewall of Crickstown and Pa-
trick Barnewall of Kilbrew. This general muster organized a
force of upwards of 12,000 men, on the assembling of which Lord

THE FAMILY OF BAUNEWALL. 309

Trimlestown was one of the four peers who, from their camp near
Drogheda, addressed the Marquis of Clanricarde, assigning the
motives for thus taking up arms. " First, then, we declare unto
your lordship, that the only scope and purpose of our taking up of
arms b for the honour of God, to obtain a free exercise of the
ancient Catholic Roman religion, so long and so constantly adhered
unto by us and our progenitors in this kingdom, and whereof we
have been threatened to be utterly deprived, and from which no-
thing but death or utter extirpation shall remove us. Next, for
restitution of the absolute sovereignty or prerogative royal of our
most gracious king, whereof we to our great grief do behold him
abridged by some ill affected subjects, aiming therein at their own
private ends ; and, thirdly, for the liberty of this our country,
which the parliament of England (our fellow-subjects) seeketh to
captivate and enthral to themselves, the experience whereof we
have for a long while found under the heavy pressures of the sub-
ordinate governors placed over us, the particulars whereof, too
tedious to be related, are sufficiently known to most parts 'of the
Christian world, and yet obscured and concealed from the eyes and
ears of our gracious king at home, because he should not commise-
rate us to give order for our deliverance. These, then, and none
other, we call God to witness, are the grounds and motives of the
action we have in hand." His castle at Trimlestown, in the
county of Meath, was soon afterwards taken by the Lord Deputy.
On the breaking out of these troubles Nicholas Barnewall,
then proprietor of Turvey, fled with his family to Wales, whence ho
returned in 1643, and the king soon afterwards, being sensible of his
loyalty, and taking a special notice both of his services in Ireland and
those of his son Patrick in England, created him Baron of Turvey
and Viscount Barnewall of Kingsland. He married the widow of
O'Donnell Earl of Tyrconnel, and on his decease was also buried at
Lusk. Amongst the confederate Catholics, who sat at Kilkenny in
1646, were George Barnewall of Kingstown, Henry Barnewall of
Castlerickard, and James Barnewall. Sir Richard Barnewall, the
second baronet of Crickstown, was also one of the provincial coun-
cil at Kilkenny, and was excepted from pardon for life and estate
by Cromwell's act of parliament passed in August 1652. He was
afterwards transplanted into Connaught, attainted, and deprived

310 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

of all his estates until the Restoration, when, being one of the
nominees mentioned in the Act of Settlement, he was restored to
his mansion-house and 2000 acres adjoining, soon after which he
died. In 1650 Mathias, the twelfth Lord Baron of Trimlestown,
was also transplanted into Connaught by Cromwell, who gave him
some less valuable estates in that province, in lieu of those which
he had iiriierited in Lfeinster, although the said baron had taken
no part in the civil wars, as was afterwards particularly declared in
the Acts of Settlement and Explanation.

In 1688 John Barnewall of Crickstown, was appointed se-
cond Justice of the Exchequer. Viscount Kingsland, and Robert,
the ninth Baron of Trimlestown, sat in the peerage of King James's
parliament in 1689, while among the Commons on that occasion,
were Francis Barnewall of Woodpark, county Meath, and Sir
Patrick Barnewall, the third Baronet of Crickstown, one of the
representatives for that county. King James at this time gave a
warrant to Lord Trimlestown for the reversal of the outlawry that
affected his title, but the process was interrupted by succeeding
events. Nicholas, the third Viscount Kingsland, also espoused
the cause of King James, and was outlawed accordingly. On the
route at the Boyne he went to Limerick, where he continued
until its surrender ; but, being comprehended within the Articles,
he obtained a reversal of his outlawry. In King William's first
parliament he delivered his writ of summons, and took the oath of
allegiance, but, being required to subscribe the declaration accord-
uig to the English act, he refused so to do, declaring it was
not agreeable to his conscience, whereupon, the Lord Chancellor
acquainted him, that the consequence of his refusal was, that he
could not sit ii^ that house, upon which his lordship withdrew.

In September, 1691, Mathias, the tenth Baron of Trimlestown,
was one of the hostages from the Irish army, pending the Treaty
of Limerick. He and his brother John followed the fortunes of
the fallen monarch. The former had a commission under the
Duke of Berwick, and fell in action against the Germans in 1692,
whereupon the latter returned from Flanders to this country, re-
covered the fainily estates, and had writ of summons to parliament
as Baron of Trimlestown, but being a Roman Catholic, he applied
to the then Lord Deputy in council to excuse him accordingly.

THE FAMILY OP BARNEWALL. 311

In 169& Alexander Barnewall was lieutenant-colond in Clare's
regiment of dragoons in the French service, while about the same
time LfOrd Trimlestown had three sons in foreign service, Thomas
in France, James in the Spanish service, and Anthony, who went
into Germany at the age of seventeen, in General Hamilton's
regiment of cuirassiers. He was engaged in every acticTn of note
against the Turks, and in the memorable battle of Crotzka, in
September, 1739, on the fall of his superior officer, twice led his
regiment to the charge, bjut perished on the last occasiot, being
surrounded and cut down by the enemy. In 1745 Lieutenant
George Barnewall of Berwick's regiment, was taken prisoner off
Montrose, on board the Louis the Fifteenth, by the Milford, as
was another Lieutenant Barnewall on board the Charite in 1746,
and Lieutenants William, Edward, and Basil Barnewall were also
captured at sea, fighting in the same service. In the engage-
ment which occurred in 1747 at Lauffield village near Maestricht,
(^tain Brian Barnewall of Clare's regiment of the Irish Brigade
was killed, as was Captain Edward Barnewall in Berwick's, and
Captain Thomas Barnewall badly wounded.

Thomas, the thirteenth Lord Trimlestown, was a Knight of
Malta. In 1768 Nicholas, the fourteenth Baron of Trimlestowti,
married the only daughter of Monsieur Joseph d'Augin, President
of the Parliament of Tholouse, by whom he had issue the suc-
ceeding lord, and one daughter who was married in 1795 to Peter,
Count ly Alton.

In 1793 John Thomas Barnewall, Esq. (the present Lord
Trimlestown), only son to Count Barnewall, formerly of the king-
dom of France, and cousin to the Lord Trimlestown of that day,
^as married to Miss Kirwan, the eldest daughter of the celebrated
Richard Kirwan, whose scientific acquirements were so highly es-
teemed. In 1795 this nobleman obtained an absolute avoidance
of the outlawry which affected the title in his line, and judgment
of reversal was entered in the Court of King's Bench in Hilary
term of that year as of Michaelmas term, 1689, when it had been
intended to be granted by King James.

From the back of Turvey house a bridle way
leads by Beaverstown, also the estate of Lord Trim-

312 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

lestown i between which and Rush is a tract of sand
and mud, wide in the inside, but not more than 400
yards across, at the neck where the tide enters, and
which could consequently be easily recovered from
the sea. Along the verge of this warren the way
continues into

FORTRAN E,

the seat of Mr. George Evans, one of the present
representatives for this county. His mansion-house
is a spacious brick building, situated nearly in the
centre of a fine deer-park. It commands prospects
at the land side of nearly the whole of Fingal, while
the seaward views are relieved and enlivened by the
islands of Lambay and Ireland's Eye, the bold pro-
montory of Howth, the projections of Portane and
Rush, and the enchanting perspective of the Wicklow
mountains. This demesne comprises some of the
best lands in the county, and its plantations, though
so much exposed, thrive with unusual vigour.' Pret-
ty avenues and paths have been designed through the
woods, but they are latterly much neglected.

North of the demesne, on the shore, the thickly-
ivied ruins of the church, and its large, square steeple,
evince its former extent. Within the walls are the mo-
numents of Mr. Adam Lynar, who died in 1722, and
of Mr. Hampden Evans, who died in 1820, aged 80.
The graveyard has no tombs of note. At a short
distance hence a square tower of moderate dimensions
marks the site of the old castle, formerly the resi-
dence of a branch of the family of Cusack of Rathal-

FORTH ANE. 313

dron. The summit is attained by forty-eight stone
steps, terminating in an angular watch tower which
commands a most noble and extensive view.

" The shore at Portrane presents partly a surface
of strand and partly of rocks, worn into recesses and
caves by the action of the tides. The pier, hereafter
mentioned, lies in ruins and unfrequented. The
neighbouring rocks afford the ulva IdctiLcch oyster
green laver ; and the ulva umbilicalis navel laver ;
which, when boiled in sea water, are packed in little
earthen pots, and sold under the name of sloke, being
in highest season in winter.

" The rectory of Portrane being impropriate in
William Ward and George Evans, the parish ranks
as but a curacy. It extends over 2520a., 3r.,.15p.,
and has been episcopally united, from time immemo*
rial, with the vicarage of Dunabate, in which latter
parish the church of the union is situated. The
Archbishop of Dublin is the patron. In 1834 its
population was returned as 729 persons, of whom 718
were Roman Catholics. This parish is chiefly laid
out in tillage. The principal proprietors of the fee
are Lord Trimlestown and the Archbishop of Dub-
lin, Mr. Evans being but a tenant, of an expiring
lease, under the see. The acreable rent, on modem
lettings, is from £1 10^. to £2 per annum, the wages
of labour only Qs. per week to those who get constant
employment. A cabin without land is rented at about
XI 10*. per annum. There is a corn-mill on the
townland. Between the village and Dunabate is a
grotesque edifice, erected by Mr. Evans, as a school-

314 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

house for boys and girls, 130 of whom received edu*
cation there in 1834L

The chapel is situated at the junction of the two
parishes of Portrane and Dunabate, which are also uni-
ted in the Roman Catholic arrangement. This edifice
is cruciform, situated in the centre of a burial ground,
in which is a monument to the Rev. Peter Teeling,
pastor during thirty years of this union, and who
died in 1824 at the advanced age of 80. It was un-
der hb auspices the chapel was erected.

' '^Qn the shore, in a subterranean cave, is a spring
well known by the name of Chink-well, from the
virtue tradition ascribes to it in the cure of chin-
coughs. In dribbling down the sides of the grotto
this water forms, where it falls, stony incrustations of
various figures and vast extent, which ferment strong-*
ly with spirit of vitriol.*

^* Portrane and Dunabate form nearly a peninsula,
being flanked on the north and south by inlets from the
dea. The former is the more considerable elevation
of the two, being separated from the latter by an in*
tervening hollow. The eastern part of the headland
ef Portrane consists of transition rocks. In the south-
ewtem quarter under Portrane house, the hollow,
which winds towards Dunabate, is occupied by red
sandstone conglomerate, and this rock appears to con-
stitute the whole of the rising ground of Dunabate^
at the foot of which the new chapeL may be seen,
founded upon the sandstone. To the westward of
Dunabate the country consbts of floetz limestone, and

• Rutty's Mineral Waters, p. 483.

PORTRANE. 315

the western part of Portrane, on which the mansion
stands, appears also to be composed in part of lime-
stone, for in sinking a well there, seventy feet deep,
fifty-nine feet passed through soil, and the last eleven
feet were sunk in limestone ; but this ia probably
connected with the transition rocks in the eastern
qpturter. The actual contact of the rocks here no-
ticed cannot be traced, but from their general posi-
tion it may be inferred that the sandstone conglo-
merate rests upon the transition series.

** The north side of Portrane headland exhibits
rugged rocks, composed of massy unstratified green-
stone, which extend to the eastward about fifty yards
beyond the quay. This greenstone is commonly acom-
pact felspar, coloured by hornblende, varying from a
greyish green to a dark, blackish green. Sometimes,
however, it is reddish brown, or brick red, and in patches
siskin green. In some places it acquires the charac-
ter of clay-stone, and in others the rpck consists of
ill-defined crystals of hornblende and felspar. Cal-
careous spar appears also disseminated in spots, in-
creasing occasionally so much as to constitute nearly
the mass of the rock. Disseminated iron pyrites like-
wise occur, and the greenstone is partly traversed
by small, contemporaneous veins of calcareous spar and
quartz, and in two instances by veins composed of f^
mixture of epidote and quartz. The greenstone is
also porphyritic in some places, as near the western
side of the quay. Proceeding along the coast the
massy greenstone is perceived at low water, present*
ing a face which declines to the southward under an

316 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

angle of 46°9 and within a few feet of it is a stratified
conglomerate in a similar position, which, no doubt,
rests upon it, the line of range being 15** north of
east and south of west. This conglomerate consists
of a base of compact greenstone slate merging into
clay slate, and involving rounded and angular frag-
ments of limestone, greenstone, and calcareous spar,
and also pebbles of a mixture of greenstone and cal-
careous spar, and of conglomerate analogous in com-
position to that of the whole mass. Through the
base a good deal ofcalcareous spar is disseminated,
and sometimes also quartz. Some of the fragments
are of the size of the head, and in general they affect
a flattened form with rounded angles, but many of
them appear as complete pebbles.

"This conglomerate or coarse greywacke, presents
a rough aspect in the parts adjacent to the greenstone,
but in proceeding to the south-eastward, we observe it
to acquire a finer grain, though occasionally intermixed
with a coarser-grained, and passing into a greywacke
slate. It is succeeded by beds, which alternate with
each other from a few inches to six and eight inches
thick, composed of coarse-grained conglomerate green-
stone and finer-grained conglomerate, all analogous
in composition to those already discVibed. We now
encounter a conglomerate composed of angular and
rounded masses of greenstone, cemented by calcareous
spar, and this is succeeded by slaty, fine-grained con-
glomerate, into which it seems to pass. Limestone
thus appears at first intermingled with greenstone
and greywacke slate, and afterwards alternating with
the latter rock. The range of the beds in this spot

PORTRANE. 317

is north-east and south-west, and the dip 20° south-
east. The intermixture of limestone with the grey-
wacke slate, is very distinct in the vertical section of
the cliff, south of the martello tower, where we per-
ceive numerous boulders, pebbles, and masses of lime-
stone scattered through the rock, frequently affecting
a nearly rectilinear disposition across the strata, and
nearly at right angles with the dip.

^^ In a similar cliff adjoining on the south, this
arrangement is still more striking, the limestone
pebbles appearing in clustered masses of an irregular
form, and occupying a space from a few inches to
five and six feet wide, but also affecting a disposition
at right angles with the dip of the greywacke slate.
In a cave a little farther south, the limestone is seen
in thin layers, seldom exceeding four or five inches
in thickness, repeatedly alternating with the grey-
wacke slate. The range is here l(f west of north
and east of south, and the dip 50° towards the east.
Farther south the alternating beds of limestone gra-
dually acquire a greater thickness, but even here
some of the beds consist of conglomerate, composed
of large pebbles and angular fragments of limestone,
cemented by greywacke slate. Limestone now pre-
dominates in massy strata, some of which are several
feet in thickness, ranging 20° east of north and west
of south, and dipping 50° towards the east. On these
massy strata are incumbent, alternating beds of lime-
stone and greywacke slate, some beds of the former
substance being even four, five, and six feet thick.
These rocks are much contorted, and, indeed, inflec-

318 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

tions prevail throughout the eastern part of this coast,
whence arise the various range and dip already ob-
served. In this quarter the beds lie almost horizon-
tally, while the superior gradually acquire the high
angle of 50".

** In a cove to the south a conglomerate appears,
the base of which is a mixture of clay slate and lime-^
stone, enveloping pebbles and even boulders (two and
three feet in diameter) of limestone, and of coarse
grey wacke, which consists of a clay slate base contain-
ing much limestone, calcareous spar, quartz, clay slate,
and greywacke itself. In the southern part of this
cove the limestone is seen supporting ma^sy strata of
fine-grained greywacke, four and five feet thick, and
forming cliffs forty and fifty feet in height, but some
of the strata are only a few inches or one or two feet
thick. The line of junction is well marked by a thin
seam of calcareous spar rising from the south to the
north under an angle of 15**. In the lower strata
the greywacke is a firm, compact rock, of fine grain,
containing numerous small scales of silvery mica dis-
persed in all directions, sometimes also disseminated
iron pyrites, and occasionally small fragments of clay
slate. In the upper strata it merges into greywacke
slate, and into clay slate. These slaty rocks fre-
quently alternate with thin layers of limestone, from
one inch to one-eighth or one-tenth of an inch in
thickness, and they are also traversed by numerous
small contemporaneous veins and strings of calcareous
spar and quartz.

" The diffusion of calcareous matter is so general

POBTRANB. 319

through the greywacke^ greenstone, and slaty rocks
of this coast, that few varieties can be found which
do not effervesce with acids, even when nothing cal-
careous is visible to the eye. Rocks of this descrip-
tion, gi'eywacke slate and clay slate, with thin layers
of limestone apd fine-grained greywacke, with massy
beds of limestone and limestone conglomerate, now
occupy the coast for a considerable distance to the
southward in undulated stratifications, the slaty rocks
forming the predominant superincumbent mass, while
the general range is nearly east and west throughout.
Compact greenstone now appears near the southerly
martello tower, some of which is porphyritic, and tra-
versed by numerous contemporaneous veins of quartz.
It is succeeded by fine-grained greenstone slate pasa-
ing into clay slate, which contains fragments and spots
of clay slate, quartz, and calcareous spar. This rock
rests upon the compact greenstone, ranging east and
west, and dipping 45^ south. More south is met
compact greenstone again resting upon the green-
stone slate. It is porphyritic, and about one hundred
yards from the martello tower, it consists entirely of
greenstone porphyry, in which the felspar crystals are
closely crowded together. But immediately under the
tower we have greenstone slate again, similar to that
before described. It seems nearly allied to the coarse
clay slate or greenstone conglomerate, into which it
probably passes, is of a mottled aspect,' greenish or
purplish in colour, and of this description is the whole
rock south-east of the martello tower to the sea. To
the south of the martello tower the beach is lined

320 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

with sand hillocks, which extend to the inlet from
the sea that leads up to Malahide.

" In the higher grounds of Portrane, as in the
park and toward the house, are perceived only rocks
of «n analogous description, the general range of
which appears to be nearly east and west, agreeing
with that on the coast, although in some places in-
flected. The prevailing dip is to the south, varying
from 50^ to an almost horizontal position, being also
in some parts inflected. The limestone on this coast
is bluish grey, and even blackish grey, and of a va-
rying texture, compact, partly foliated, and even
nearly granularly foliated. In its fracture it exhibits
no distinct petrifactions, yet when examined below
the line where it has been acted upon by the sea, or-
ganic remains are displayed in the most marked man-
ner protruding above the surface of the wasted stone.
They consist principally of zoophites, with some bi-
valves. In the conglomerate rock under the pigeon-
house at the park, (the base of which is a mixture
of limestone and greenstone enveloping pebbles of
limestone and greenstone,) bivalves, trochites, and
madreporites may be observed."*

In 1040, according to the Black Book of Christ Giurch, Sitric, .
King of Dublin, gave to that establishment and to Donatus, Bishop
of Dublin, a place where the arches or vaults were founded, to
build the church of the Holy Trinity upon, and also endowed it
with the lands of Beldoyle and Portrane, with their villeins, cattle,
and corn.

In 1170 Earl Strongbow confirmed this grant, as did Arch-
bishop Laurence O'Toole in 1178. Portrane is accordingly enu-

• Trans, of the Geolog. Sec. vol. v. p. 222, &c.

PORTRANE. 321

merated among the possessions of Christ Church in Pope Urban's
bull of 1186. Pope Clement the Third, however, appears to have
granted it to the see of Dublin, and, the archbishop having there-
upon in 1197 asserted his claims, the canons of Christ Church
compromised their title, on condition of receiving one hundred
rabbits yearly out of the warren of Portrane, and in 1204 Patrick,
the sub-prior of Christ Church, relinquished all rights of his house
in Portrane and Lambay to Archbishop Corny n, on obtaining in
lieu thereof Tilach, Dromin, and Ballochegan, and one carucate
in Theholock.* Soon after which the church of Portrane was appro-
priated by John, Archbishop of Dublin, for the proper uses of the
Prioress of Grace Dieu,f and Archbishop Walter increased its
revenues by grants of a hou^e, a court, and a farm called Bally-
cammon.

In 121 6 Pope Innocent the Third confirmed to the see of Dublin
(inter alia) Portrane, with its appurtenances, as did King Edward
in 1337, and King Richard while in Dublin in 1394. Accord-
ingly in 1403 Thomas, Archbishop of Dublin, was found seised
in his demesne as of fee in right of his church, of divers lands, rents^
and services in Finglas, Rollestown, Portrane, Culleyn, &c4

In 1536 Sir John Barnewall, third Baron of Trimlestown,
was constituted seneschal and receiver of a moiety of this with
other manors, and the property, then acquired by him and by Sir Pa-
trick Barnewall (ancestor of the Lords Kingsland) in this parish, is
still in their family. For a notice of Portrane in 1637, see " Rush.'*
An inquisition of 1541 finds, that the last Abbess of Graco
Dieu was seised, with other possessions, of the following rectories
appropriated to her house, viz. Grace Dieu, annual value £3 ; Port-
rane, with a messuage and eighteen acres of land in Portrane
belonging to the rectory, annual value £9 lOs. A subsequent
inquisition states her having a castle here, with divers buildings
called the threshing-house, &c., with the parsonage, hemp-yard,
and haggard. At this time a branch of the Cusack family was
resident here.

In 1576 the queen granted to Francis Agard, Esq., one of the

• Regist of Christ Church. t Repert Viride.

X Rot Pat. in Cane. Hib.

322 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

privy cbuncily the ohureh and rectory of Porirane» and all aii4
lingular castles, manors, tithes, and all hereditaments spiritual
and tJemporat to said rectory belonging, at the annual rent
of £8, and the render of a rose on 8t. John's day. At that
time eighteen acres of land appertained to this rectory, there was^
also the castle in Pcnrtrane, a close east ef the caslle, and a house
in ruins north of the old hall, a range of stables, the slaughter-
house of the manor, also the kitchen, and ^ a long stretch of houses
ealted the Ne# Hall, in the south comer of which the chaplain to
the said prioress had his chamber, and celebrated divine service ia
the parish church/*

In 1608 Sir Henry Harrington of Grai^e^Con conveyed and
assigned to Nicholas Bdl of Dublin, aldertnan, the churdi and
rectory of Portrane, with all tithes, &C thereto appertaining, to
hold to htm and his heirs for ever.

In the Regal Visitation Book of 1615 Portrane is described
as "a rectory and vicarage impropriate, church and chancel in
good repair, the profits sequestered kr want of a curate." In the
same year the king granted to Robert Kennedy and William
Rowles of Dublin, as assignees of David Viscount Roche and
Fermoy, (inter alia) Monangeragh, within the manor of £sker>
I 5a., the tithes of fish and lands of Portrane, parcel of the estate
of the late monastery of Grace Dieu, 8a. in Miltown-Regis, within
the manor of Newcastle, near the mill, with common of pasture
and turbary.*

Acoor(hng to the surveys taken at the time of the common-
wealth, there were then 105a., plantation measure, of commons
here. Tliis tract has been sinoe enclosed.

In 1665 William Usher was seised of the tithes of the fishery
of Portrane, held of the king in free and common soecage, at an
annual rent.f The whole tithes of the parish subsequently vested
in the Ball family, and by the marriage of a daughter of that
house with Richard Archbold of Eadstown, passed to him and his
descendants. For a notice in 1697 see post, at " Dunabate.**

In 1712 Portrane was the residence of the ill-fated Stella.
Soon afterwards Eyre Evans, Esq., M. P. for the county of Li-

* Rot. Pat in Cone. Hib. t loquis. in Cane. Hib.

C0BBALLIE8. 323

loeriok, settled her^ and from him has the preset proprietor de*
feended,

Ifi 1775 the Irish parliament granted £500 for a pier and quay
here at the instance of Mr. Evans* At this period, the creeks and
chores of Portrane were filled with smugglers to such a daring
•xtent, that in 1771, in one seisure, seventy-five chests and twenty
easks of green and bohea teas, and one hundred and eleven casks
of brandy were taken there, while in the island of Dunabate eight
tiundred casks of tea and brandy were seized on the same ocol*
aion« The revenue officers and their assistants wore besieged
during twenty-four hours, in the bams where they stored their
priJBes, by upwards of &ye hundred smugglers completely armed,
siith white cockades in their hats, and carrying a white flag. A
Captain Luske, however, whose vessel was off the neighbouring
poast, getting intelligence of the transaction, landed a considerable
part of his crew, defeated and dispersed the smagglers, and carried
the seizure to the king's stores.

A private act of 1804 authorized the enclosing of the com-
mons here and at Dunabate.

From Portrane house, a shadjr, wooded road winds
through evergreens down into Dunabate. Pursuing,
however, another direction, unguided by road or path,
the historian will seek the locality of

CORBALLIES,

situated in this parish, the estate of the Bamewalls in the four-
ieebth century, afterwards that of John Bumell of Balgriffin,
and in the seventeenth century the residence of Luke NetterviUo,
the second son of Viscount Netterville, who in 1641, by proclan^a-
tion made at the market place of Lusk, assembled on four days' no-
tice, an armed militia of 1200 men at Swords. The Lords Justices
required them on their aUegiance to appear at the Castle, but they
returned for answer, *^ that they were constrained to meet there
together for the safety of their lives, that they were put in such
great terror by the rising out of some horse-troops and foot-com-

324 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

panies at PubliDi vrho killed four Catholics for no other reason
than that they bore the name of that religion, that they durst
not as they pretended stay in their houses, and therefore re-
solved to continue together till they were assured by their lord-
ships of the safety of their lives, before they run the hazard thereof^
by manifesting their obedience due. unto their lordships."* The
Lords Justices and Council subsequently offered a reward of £400
for the head of Netlerville. He died during the civil war, leaving
issue by his wife Mabel, daughter of Sir Patrick Barnewall of
Turvey, two sons, Richard, who died young, and Francis, a colonel
in the Irish army, whose issue also failed. On the death of their
father, the parliament in 1648 granted the capital messuage, town,
and lands of Corballies, with so much of his estate adjoining as
should amount to £400 per annum English, to Anne, Lady Har-
court, widow of Sir Simon Harcourt, who lost his life in that war,
and it is now part of the estate of Mr. Cobbe.

DUNABATB

succeeds, with the fine remains of its church and cas-
tle. The latter is a single square, situated in the
churchyard, and thickly overgrown with ivy. The
former was dedicated to St. Patrick. In its ruins
are several sepulchral monuments, particularly one to
the memory of Patrick Barnewall of Staffordstown, and
his wife Begnet de la Hoyde, dated 1592, and ano-
ther to Christopher Barnewall of Rathesker, who
died in 1 66 1, and which also bears inscriptions to his
wife and their children. Near it in the same enclo-
sure is a flat tombstone to Mr. Richard Fitz Simon,
who died in 1709-

The present church which adjoins it is in tolerable
order, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners having granted

• Temple's Irish Rebellion.

DUNABATE, 325

£84 7^* 6d. for its repair. It is situated on such a
commanding eminence, as is always found in Irish
denominations beginning with " Dun ;" this of Dun-
na-bate signifies the high fortress of the bay. The
interior is remarkably neat, the gallery has a hand*
somely-stuccoed cieling, and is appropriated for Mr.
Cobbe's family. There is also a pew with the Trim-
lestown escutcheon over it. Within this church is a
handsome marble monument to the memory of Doctor
Cobbe, Archbishop of Dublin, who died in 1765 ; of
whom see the "Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dub-
lin." Adjacent to the church-yard is a glebe of about
three acres, on which a glebe-house has been built by
a grant of £100, and a loan of £320 from the Board
of First Fruits.

The rectory being impropriate in the Rev. Mr.
Hamilton, this parish ranks as but a vicarage in the
deanery of Swords, episcopally united from time im-
memorial with the curacy of Portrane, and in the gift
of the Archbishop of Dublin. It compounded for its
tithes at £220 per annum, of which £153 6s. 8d. was
made payable to the lay impropriator, and the residue
to the incumbent. The parish comprises 364 1 a. Or. 23p.
chiefly used in tillage, while its population was re-
turned in 1834 as 405 persons, of whom 337 were
Roman Catholics. The number of labourers in the
two parishes of Dunabate and Portrane are said to be
160, most of whom have constant employment. The
wages of labour is from six to eight shillings per week.
The rent of land here varies from £l 10*. to £2 per
acre; that of a cabin, without land, is about £l 10^.

326 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

per annum. Mr. Cobbe and Lord Trinilestowrt hve
the chief proprietors of the fee. The soil may be said
to rest upon clay slate.

About the year 1230 Dunabate, which was theretofore a cba-
jpelry annexed to Swords, was disunited therefrom by Archbi-
shop Luke, and the rectory granted by him to the monastery of
(jrane.* The vicarage was at that time indifferently called Tur*
vey or Dunabate, and with such an alias is it described in 1240
in the presentation of Richard de St. Martin thereto, by the Arch-
bishop of Dublin. See ante at " Turvey."

In 1310 the king, during the vacancy of the See of Dublin^
presented William de Bathe to the vicarage of Duuabate.t

In 1419 Henry Marleburgh was vicar of Dunabate. He wad
so called as having been born at Marleburgh in Wiltshire. He
wrote Annals of Ireland in Latin, which have since been translated
into English, and are to be found at the close of Hanmer's Chro-
nicle.

Archbishop Allen in the Repertorium Viride states this church
as then still appropriate to the nuns of Grane. In 1539 the vi-
carage was rated to the First Fruits at £7 6s. 8(/., Irish.

At the dissolution Egidia Wale, the last prioress of Grane,
was found to have been seised of the rectories of Dunabate, Kilma-
cud, and Bray, which, with their tithes and emoluments, were, bb
the inquisition states, appropriated to said house. For a notice of
the possessions of the de la Hoyde family in this parish, see at
« Lough Shinny" in 1542.

In this and the following century the Luttrels had the rectory
of Dunabate and the advowson of its church.f The Regal Visita-
tion of 1615 reports the value of the vicarage as £15 per annum f
John Ethridge being then its incumbent.

In the rebellion of 1641 Nicholas Hollywood forfeited his
life interest in Balcarrick and Baltra in this parish comprising
264a., which passed in remainder to John Hollywood.§

In 1672 Charles, Viscount Fitz Harding, died seised of 117a.

• Repertoriwn Viride. t Rot. Pat in Cimc, Hib.

X Inquis. in Cane. Hib. § lb.

LISSE:f-HALL. 327

in Duna(bate> which he held in free and coainion soccage** For
a notice in 1673, see at " Eaker."

la 1697 the Reverend Charles Teman was returned as parish
priest of the parishes of Dunabate and Portrane, and resident it
Turvey. For a notice in 1804, see at « Portrane."

From Dunabate a pretty road leads by the shore
of the M^ahide creek, beyond which that village is
seen, in white cottages scattered over its eminence.
Presently Newbridge, the seat of Mr. Cobbe, ap-
pears at right, with the Turvey stream deepened into
a river as it passes through it. Within this demesne
are the ivied ruins of Laundestown Castle, while at a
small distance to the left is the old burying-place of
Ballymacdrought, near which was an ancient resi-
dence of the Walsh family.

LISSEN-HALL

next invites attention, a spacious house on the brink
of a small creek.

. A memorial of the lords of the Pale to King Henry the Fifth
is 141 7,f contains the following interesting passage referable to
this loodity. <« On Monday in the WhitsunWeek, at Lissenh^l,
Maufice O'Keating, chieftain of hb natioh, traitor and rebel to
you our gracious Lord^ for the great £ear which he had of your
said lieutenant, (Lord Fufnifal), for himself aDd his nation, yielded
himself to the same your lieutenant without any condition, with
his breast against hb sword-point and a cord about hb neck, then
delivering to your said lieutenant, without ransom, the Englbh
prisoners which he had taken before, to whom grace was granted
by indenture and hb eldest son given in pledge, to be loyal lieges
from thenceforward to you our Sovereign Lord."

t— ; — —.-I- , *- • ' ' •

• Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

t Ellis's Letters, New Series, vol. i. p. 60.

328 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

In and previous to this year, the Morres family were settled
here. Subsequently, on the occasion of an Inquisition taken as.
to the possessions of the prebend or rectory of Swords, it was shewn
that the demesne appropriated thereto was the Court of Lissen-
hall, with its orchard, garden, and lands. The lands of << big Lis-
senhall" were then accounted as 150a., while those of little Lis-
senhall were stated as 200.

For further notices of LissenhaU about this period, see antSf
at « Swords," in the years 1541 and 1637.

In 1800 the glebe lands here were leased for£l 12 per annum.

Passing through Swords a picturesque road leads
to Brazeel, at first ascending at the south of the
churchyard, then passing on the edge of a terrace that
overhangs the little river and glen of Brackenstown,
with its mills in the depth of the wooded valley, and
its mansion-house seen on the opposite ascent from
the glen.

This house was formerly the residence of Viscount Moles-
worth, whose ancestor, Robert Molesworth of Brackenstown was
one of those attieunted in King James's parliament. He subse-
quently filled the office of ambassador from King William to the
Court of Denmark, and ultimately was elevated to the Irish peer-
age by King George the First. He was the author of " An Ac-
eount of Denmark," and more especially of « Considerations on
the Agriculture and Employment of the Poor of Ireland." In
this pamphlet his lordship deprecates the ruinous consequences
of a tenant being suffered to deal with his fai*m as he pleases, for
•* that is what his laziness, his ignorance, or dishonesty prompts
him to without regard to covenants." He recommends enact-
ments restrictive of the courses of husbandry, the duration of
leases, the extent of farms, the abolition of subletting, landjobbing
and tithejobbing, the enclosure of commons, the establishment of
agricultural schools in every county, the distribution of premiums
to the best husbandmen, and the curtailment of holidays. On all
which points he makes some very pertinent observations. " In

LISSEN-UALL. 329

England/' he says, "it is taken for granted that a tenant, who
comes into a farm of good land with the grass side uppermost, at
the usual rent of corn land in that country, and obtains liberty to
break it up or make his best of it by ploughing it, has a profit
during the first four years equal to the value of the inheritance
of the land. Few landlords in this kingdom are sensible of this,
and therefore do not provide accordingly.*'

In reference to the extent of farms, " twenty acres," he re-
mxurks, " rightly dbtributed and well husbanded, shall yield more
profit to the tenant, and do no harm to the landlord, than a hun-
dred acres, managed as in Ireland, with infinite damage to both.'*
He strongly recommends the erection of public granaries, to pre-
vent the ruinous advance in the price of provisions when years of
scarcity occur, and where he speaks of the agricultural schoob, he
suggests that Tusser's old book of husbandry should be taught to
the boys, as " the very best English book of good husbandry and
housewifery that ever was published, fitted for the use of humble
men and farmers, and ordinary families. In these schools," he
says, " I would not have any precepts, difference, or distinction
of religions taken notice of, and nothing taught but only husbandry
and good manners, and that the children should daily serve God
according to their own religions, this school not being the proper
place to make proselytes in."

On his death in 1725 his eldest son, John, who had been en-
voy to the Duke of Tuscany in 1710, and to the King of Sardi-
nia in 1720, acquired the title as second Viscount, but dying in
the same year was succeeded by his brother Richard, the third
viscount, who became a field marshal in the army^ and general
and commander-in chief of the forces in Ireland. He entered a
volunteer in Queen Anne's reign, in 1702 received a commission
in the Earl of Orkney's regiment, whose colours he carried at
the battle of Blenheim, and on the eve of the battle of Ramillies
was appointed aid-de-camp to the Duke of Marlborough, whom
he rescued from the French, by mounting him on his horse, when
run down by their cavalry. After a campaign of active and suc-
cessful service, he was appointed a colonel in 1710, and with his
regiment was sent into Spain where he fought under the Duke of
Argyle and the great Staremberg, and on the breaking up of that

330 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

regknent at Minorca, his lotdship defoled the remdnd^r of His Kfe
to stud J. Thd water works at Chelsea were at this time carried
en under his direction. In 1715 he was agiun called into military
service, fought and was wounded at the battle of Preston. HfJ
died in 1758 and wad succeeded in the title by his only son Richard,
Uie fourth viscount.

Passing from Brackenstown, the ruins of the house
of Brazeel appear at right.

On this townlaod, on the night of the battle of the Boyne, the
Duke of Berwick rallied about 7000 foot, << of which he sent toac«
quaint King James, then in Dublin, and desired he would please to
i^nd him some horse and dragoons to enable him to make his re*^
treat. The king accordingly ordered six troops of LuttrelFs re*
giment of di'agoons, and three of Abercom's horse, (which were
all he had but those newly arrived with the king), to march to
the Duke's relief; but, as soon as it was night, that general found
most of his gathering dispersed again, of which he sent an a&»
count."*

Brazeel became subsequently the property of the Bolton fa«
tnily) of whom Edward Bolton, the founder of this line, was, for
bis attachment to the cause of King William, attainted in James's
parliament, as was also Richard Bolton. The mansion was de-^
stroyed by fire some years since, at which time a unique portrait
of Sir Richard Bolton b said to have been burned. He was for«
merly Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and in 1640 was impeached
In the House of Commons as having assisted in the introduction
of arbitrary government, by the assistance and countenance of
the Earl of Strafford. In 1661, however, all records of this trans-^
action were voted to be expunged, " inasmuch as they seemed to
be an entrenchment upon the honour, worth, and integrity of ho-
nourable persons, whose memory this house cannot in justice suf*
fer to be sulHed with the least stain of evil report."

In November, 1647, Owen Roe O'Neill and Sir Thomas Es-
raonde, with their royalist forces, encamped here. See at " Cas-
tleknock."

Beyond this

* Clarke's Life of James the Second, vol. ii. p. 402.

KNOCKSEDAN. 331

KNOCKSBDAN

presents the deserted remains of a once good inn and a
large brick mansion, now inhabited by a Mrs. Ann-
gier, overhanging a pretty glen watered by a winding
rivulet.

Here is a very remarkable circular moat, from
which the locality derives its name, Knocksedan, i. e*
the hill of the quicksand. It is elevated about fifty
feet over the river, and commands a most extensive
view. Ware, in reference to this object in his time,
says, ^^ Numbers of human bon^ are now to be seen
lying promiscuously in this mount, which was opened
for gravel some years ago by the orders of Mr. Blair^
on whose land it stands. Some curious gentlemen,'*
he adds, *^ about two years ago discovered in it A
human skeleton of a monstrous size, which measured
from the ankle bone to the top of the cranium eight
feet four inches, so that, allowing a proportionable
extension from the ankle to the sole of the foot, and
for the skin and fiesh covering the cranium, as well
as for the space occupied by the cartilages between
the several bones in a living body, the person, to
whom this body belonged, must have been not far
short of nine feet high. The scull in the most solid
part was better than a quarter of an inch thick, and
the bones of the big toe were each of them two inches?
long, and three inches and a quarter in circumference.
The dentes molares, or grinders, were also enor-
mously big, and the tibia above twenty inches long.

332 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

The position of the head was to the north and south,
and all the bones except the teeth were in a crumbling
and decayed condition."* He conjectures that these
remains were deposited there after the battle of Clon-
tarf. There are two similar mounts within half a
mile of this place.

These funeral mounts, so much resembling the
raths, and equally numerous over the country, are by
the Irish Annals, particularly those of the Four Mas-
ters, ascribed to the very highest antiquity. Indeed,
they are " modelled after such a manner as wisely and
effectually to answer the ends for which they were
first designed, defying the injuries of the weather,
and all the usual assaults of devouring time. They
are raised on a large base, and gradually diminish as
they advance upward, until at length they terminate
at the top in a flat surface, and in the whole have the
appearance of a cone. They differ in their dimen-
sions and heights, according to the quality of the per-
son for whom they were raised, as they do also in the
materials composing them, some being made of earth
only heaped together, and others of small, round
paving stones with sand or earth mixed, and piled up
in a high cone covered with a coat of green sods."f

As they were often thrown up over those who
fell in war, they became commemorative of places
where battles were fought. The practice of raising
such monuments over the dead, is one of the many
aboriginal principles, which adhered to the different
societies that diverged from the confusion of Babel ;

• Antiquities of Ireland, p. 150. t lb. p. 135.

KNOCKSEDAN. 33

such was the tomb of Patroclus, as described in the
twenty-third book of the Iliad, such were the barrows
of Achilles, Antilochus, Peneleus, Ajax Telamon,
iEsytes, &c., such were the mounts mentioned by
Herodotus as raised over the Scythian kings, such
those described by Strabo as constructed by the
Myrsians and Phrygians over the dead, such the mo-
nument of Dercennus who governed Laurentum be-
fore the arrival of JEneas in Italy, such the royal
mounts noticed by Lucan, such the pile erected over
Damaratus the Corinthian, as recorded by Plutarch
in his life of Alexander, such the tomb on the banks
of the Wolga mentioned by Adam Olearius in his
travels into Muscovy and Persia, and the tombs in
Westphalia and Friesland described by Keisler in his
Northern Antiquities, and such were the funeral piles
of earth erected by the Danes over their kings and
heroes, and which, during the long establishment of
that people in Ireland, became mixed with the cor-
responding memorials of the natives.

About the glen of Brackenstown and in its woods,
the botanist will find rosa arvensis, white trailing
dog-rose ; tilia Europcea^ common lime tree ; ranun-
culus auricomus, goldylocks; stocky s palustris, marsh
woundwort ; geranium rotundifolium^ round leaved
crane's-bill ; ulex EuropcBUS^ common furze, the best
fuel for heating ovens; cares remota^ remote sedge;
carex pendula^ pendulous sedge ; carex pseudo-cy-
peruSy bastard cypress sedge ; polj/podium aculeatuniy
prickly polypody ; meruleus umbilliferuSj a delicate
and minute species of mushroom ; agaricus elephan-

334 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

tinuSf which, when in perfection, is almost white*
when cut becomes red, and when left to gradual de^
cay becomes as black as if burned into charcoal;
various other species of the agaricns, or mushroom i
boletus bovinusy cow-spunk, the young plants of which
are eaten as a great delicacy in Italy ; the Russians,
Poles, and Germans, also account them a dounty ; bole-
tus igniarius, touchwood spunk, used for tinder in
some parts of Englimd as also in Germany, while the
Laplanders bum it round their habitations to keep off
^e gadfly from the young rein-deer, and the natives
of Franconia are said to beat the inner substance into
the form of leather and sew it together for garments;
boletus olivaoeuSi lichen olivaceusy and scrophularia
aquaticai water figwort, in the wet ditches.

More immediately near Knocksed^i grow, silene
inflata, bladder catchfly; tilm Europaea^ common
lime tree ; and the prunus cerastes^ wild cherry tree.
The chen7 tree obtained its name from having been
brought into Europe from Cerasus, a city of Pontus,
by Lucullus the Roman General, after his conquests
in Asia, and was, perhaps, the only substantial fruit
of the Mithridatic war.

At Knocksedan, a bold bridge of a single, tall,
narrow arch is erected over the glen. At one side
of it a bad bridle road, but carried over a terrace
that prettily overhangs the continuation of the glen
already alluded to, crosses the rivulet by a worse than
Al-Sirat bridge, and, passing by an ancient mill, leads
into the holy solitude of

KILLEIQU. 33d

KILLEIGH,

a little ruinous village^ on an uncultivated eminence,
although within seven miles of the metropolis. Were
the viciqity of this ^ot wooded, and its approaches
made more praotieable, it should be visited as a scene
ef m\]ch beairiiy and interest ^ in its present stateit is
utterly unknown. Sir Thomas Staples has the fee
of this townland, which he lets at the acreable rent of
£l 10^. per annum.

The ruins of the church present chancel and
nave, divided by a csreular arch, with doorways,
also circularly arched. The length of the chancel
is ten yards, of the nave fifteen, the width of each
being five yards. Ash trees flank and overhang the
ruin, but, neither within its walls nor in the surround-
ing grave-yard, is there any tomb worthy of notice.

The churches of the ancient Christians, it may be
here observed, were always divided into two parts,
viz. the nave or body of the church, and the sacra-
rium, since called the chancel, from its being divided
from the nave by cancelH latices^ or cross-bars. The
nave was common to all the people, the chancel was
peculiar to the priests and sacred officers, and was al-
ways placed at the east end of the church. In the
chancel, the altar or communion-table was placed,
which none were allowed to approach but such as
were in holy orders, and the admission of the laity
during the service, was expressly forbidden in the
Greek church by the nineteenth canon of the Council

336 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

of Laodicea. In the service of the liturgy in the
fifth year of Edward the Sixth, a clause was added at
the end of the first Rubric, expressly enjoining that
the chancels should remain as they had done in times
past. It is, however, to be observed, that the right
of a seat and sepulchre in the chancel, was a privilege
appertaining to every founder of a church.

The parish, in which this place is situated, takes
its name ; comprises 807a. 2r. 4p. in three townlands,
and was returned in 1834 as having a population
of 166 persons, all Roman Catholics. The rectory
being impropriate in the dean and chapter of St.
Patiick*s, this parish ranks as a curacy in the deanery
and union of Swords.

At a very remote period this was one of the chapelries sub-
servient to Swords, but, about the fifteenth century, was erected
into a parish church, while its tithes were early appropriated to
the economy of St. Patrick's.

In 1414 Robert Luttrel was the proprietor of lands in thb
parish) of which he was deprived by William Ashbourne and
Richard Maddocks, who were subsequently convicted thereof and
outlawed.* The manor of Killeigh soon afterwards vested in the
Hollywood family, and, on the marriage of Margaret, daughter of
Sir Robert Hollywood, passed to her husband Robert BumelLf

In 1530 Allen styles Killeigh, « the most stately of all the
chapels of Swords."}

An inquisition of 1547 defines the extent of the tithes of the
economy here, and computes their annual value as £4 IBs, 4d,

The regal visitation of 1615 states this rectory to be impro-
priate. At which time, and previously, the Dillon family were the
chief proprietors here, but in 1641 the inheritor, Luke Dillon,
having joined the lords of the Pale, forfeited the whole townland

• Hot in Cane. Hib. t Tb. J Repertorium Viride.

KILLEIGH. 337

of KOleigh, containing 160 acres, together with the water-mill
there ;* the manor, however, continued to be in the Hollywood
family. For a notice of Killeigh in 1627, see at << Holly wood.**

In 1648 the tithes of Killeigh were demised to John Pue, Al-
derman and Mayor of Dublin, for twenty-one years ; and in 1663
Lord Chief Baron Bysse obtained a lease, for twenty-one years,
. of << the tithe of corn and hay, and the small tithes of Killeigh
parish."

In 1666 John Hollywood, son and heir of Nicholas Hollywood
of Artane, deceased, passed patent for Ballcarrig 375a., Baltra
67a., Westrew 68a., and the Moate of Killeigh 129a. sUtute
measure ; and in 1669, Lord Kingston had a grant of 80a. plan-
tation measure here, with a water-mill and water-course.

For a notice of the tithes of Killeigh in 1681, see ante at
" Malahide." In 1683 they were demised, with those of Skidow,
to Henry ScardeviUe, Prebendary of Swords, with a saving to the
curate, of the burials and £10 per annum salary.

A Wild pathway, commencing at the before men-
tioned mill-head, leads hence to Chapel Midway,
through a glen waving (12th of June) with scentless
but graceful aquatic flowers, and overhung about mid-
way by the ruinous remains of the old mansion-house
of Westrew. Returning, however, through Knockse-
dan, crossing the lofty arch of its bridge, and leaving
Brackenstown, and the now serrated walls, that once
enclosed its demesne, at left, the course of the present
excursion proceeds by some extensive remains of an old
family mansion>house at Forest, which once belonged
to the Armstrong family. Its ancient great doorcase
is embodied in a farm-house. Beyond it at left is
Fosterstown, formerly the seat of that true patriot
Baron Hamilton, from which a bleak road conducts to

Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

338 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

P1CKER8TOWN,

In 1359 Sir Elias Ashbourne was seised of various lands in Bar-
baderstown, Gadstown, ^ Pycotstoif n,'* Colwellstown, Brdidens-
town, (Brackenstown,) Colyncoght, and Rath near KiUossery,
with certain premises in Cook-street, which were then estreated
for debts due to the crown.

In the commencement of the serenteenth century, Robert
Bamewall of Dunbroe, was seised of Pickerstown, CowHree, and
Baiberstown, three messuages and eighty-two acres, which he held
from the Archbbhop of Dublin by fealty.*

Hence to

BALLYMUN,

anciently parcel of the manor of Santry. Here is one
of the four Roman Catholic chapels in the union of
Clontarf, and near it a school-house for children of
both sexes. Here also a charter-school is still sup-
ported, the only one now existing in this county.
(See antey at " Santry.**) Close to this a shady
avenue leads into Santry.

For a notice of Ballymnn in 1435, see ^* Santry."

In 1642 Edmund Bamewall died seised, by inheritance and in

tail male, of the town and lands of Ballymun, four messuages and

160 acres, which he held of the king in capite by knight's service.f
In 1673 the tithes of Bdlymun were granted to the Arch-*

bishop (^ Dublin and his successors, in trust for the incumbent,

subject to the yearly rent of £1 10*.

The botany of Ballymun presents the adra cespi-
tosay turfy hair grass ; triticum repens^ couch grass ;

• Inquis. in Cane. Hib. t lb.

BALLTMUN. 339

erythrcBu ceniaurium, eommon eentmry; chenopo-
dhim albtmiy white goosefbot ; snan nodiflorvm^
procumbent water parsnip; pimpmeUa saxifraga^
oommon burnet saidfrage ; geranimn Pyrenaicunh
fountain crane's bill ; geranium rotundifolium,
round-leaved crane's bill ;. tdex EurofMUS, common
£irze ; iathynts pratensiSf yellow meadow vetchling ;
trifolium^li/arme, slender yellow trefoil ; lotus carnu
culatus^ common bird's-foot trefoil ; hypericum qua-
drangultmh square St. John's wort ; hypericum
perforatum^ perforated St. John's wort ; apargia
autumnaUs, autumnal hawk-bit; senecio tenuifolvus^
hoary ragwort. — In the ditches and hedges along the
road sides, festuca sylvatioa^ slender wood fescue
grass; euonynms JSurop^Bus^ common spindle tree,
the fruit of which is used in many places to decorate
churches and rustic kitchens ; vinca minor, lesser
perriwinkle ; bunium flexttosum, pig-wort; ranun-
cukes hederaceusj ivy crowfoot ; lonicera perich/me-
num, common honeysuckle, of which Darwin writes :

'< Fair Lonicera prints the dewy lawn,
And decks with brighter blush the vernal dawn ;
Windfl^ round the shadowy rocks and pansied vales ;
And scents wi4> sweeter brAath the summer gales ;"

sanicula Europcea^ wood sanicle ; smymvum olusor
trum, Alexanders ; "prunv^ spinosa, sloe ; pyrus
aucuparia^ mountain ash, with its beautiful clusters of
orange berries ; rosa canina, dog rose, perhaps the
most elegant of our roses ; ruhus corylifoliusj hazel-
leaved bramble ; fragaria vescch strawberry ; ajuga
reptans^ common bugle ; vida sepiumy common bush

340 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

vetch ; ht/pericum androscemuniy tutsal ; sparganium
ramosunii branched bur-reed. — In the fields, loKum
perenney rye-grass; allium vinealey crow garlic; luciola
campestri^i field wood-rush; lychnis flos cucuH^ rag-
ged robin j gcUeopsis tetrahit^ common hemp-bane ;
euphorbia eangtui, dwarf spurge. — In the woods,
geum urbanum, common avens ; iilia Europcea^ com-
mon lime-tree; ranunculus auricomus^ goldilocks:
and on the old walls and roofs of houses, hedera helix,
ivy ; glechoma hederacea, ground ivy ; sempervivum
tectarum, house-leek.

Proceeding from Ballymun to Glasnevin, in a
sweet situation at the right off the road is Claremount
Deaf and Dumb Institution, founded in 1816. It is
a large and commodious establishment, with eighteen
acres and a half of ground attached, for which £220
annual rent is paid. The master has a salary of £125
per annum with apartments, the assistant £40 with
board and lodging. The charge here for pupils is at
the highest £22 155., but the majority are supported
gratuitously. In 1826 there were reported, as on this
establishment, twenty-six males and nineteen females,
of which total, eleven were Protestants, one Presby-
terian, and thirty-one Roman Catholics, if, indeed,
such religious distinctions could be attributed to per-
sons of their capacities. New schoolrooms and dor-
mitories have been since erected, and the Institution
can now accommodate about 160, a number which
it may be considered as having, as the candidates for
admission, together with the 120 now (May, 1836) in
the house, actually exceed that number.

BALLYMUN. 341

In 1828 George Devoy willed, that the interest
of two 6 per cent. Grand Canal debentures should be
applied for the use of this establishment; and in 1832
George Nugent made a similar bequest of the in-
terest of £50.

Out of school hours the pupils are employed in
useful works, contributing either to their health or to
the formation of industrious habits. The boys in
gardening, farming, tailoring, shoemaking, and other
mechanical labours ; the girls in needlework, house-
wifery, laundry work, and dairy management. The
buildings, yards, and grounds are so arranged, that the
boys and girls in the poor establishment have distinct
schoolrooms and playgrounds, besides the master has
entirely separate apartments and walks for his own
family, and for private pupils of both sexes, who are
either deaf and dumb, or afflicted with impediments
in speech.

Although the calamity of the visitation is scarcely
perceptible in the facility, with which those affected
by it here communicate and receive ideas, and although
even the inanimate countenance and languid look,
which peculiarly accompany their privations, are not
here observable, yet is the appearance of a silent
school and dumb preceptors an object too unique, to
fail exciting the deepest interest. Numbers of pupils
have already passed through this institution into the
world, and are now taking their part in the industry
and enjoyments of this life, and pursuing those moral
duties and exercises, which will insure their welfare in
the next.

342 COUNTY or dublik.

The Abb6 de TEpee, one of those plow and ex*
cellent men whimi heaven designed to bl^ss itiankiKd>
was the founder of the first estiiblishment for the rdtef
of this cbiss of persons, and the inventor, to a greafit
degree, of the system for their education^ A very
remarkable account, connected with his benevolent
practice in this line, afforded the plot of a little
French play, since translated into the English, and
entitled, <<Deaf and Dumb." Passing hence by
Hampstead, where within the last eight years Doctor
Eustace established a lunatic asylumibr a few patients^
the tourist reaches the classical village of

OLASNEVIN,

once the residence of the celebrated Doctor Delany^
where that learned divine assembled his coterie of
wits in the Augustan age of Queen Anne ; where the
patriot Dean and the beautiful and enduring Stella
have charmed the feast; where Southern has fre*^
quently sojourned ; and in whose immediate vicinity
Addison, Sheridan, Famell, and Tickell have resided.
This village may be considered as divided into
the old and the new town, both sweetly situated ; but
the former, though once so recommended^ and frer
quented for the salubrity of its air, is, with the except
tion of four or five houses, a range of ruins. The
river Tolka, over which there is a fine bridge, divides
them ; the new being on the Dublin and improving
side : the great objects of interest are, however, in
the old.

OLASNBVIN. 343

The church is a plain edifice, but the identical
one» with little alteration, in which Dean Delany offi-
ciated. A flag in the wall, ne«r the entrance, statei
that it was rebuilt in 1707. On the floor near the
communion table, is a stone commemorative of An*
drew CaldwelU who died in 1 710 ; and in the adjacent
part i^the outer church-yard are the tombstones of
several of his descendants. Within the church are
Iso mu ral slabs, one of white marble, to the memory
of George Cockbum, who died in 1773; ttdd near it
another for William Orr Hamilton, barrister at law,
who died in 1817, aged thirty-six.

In the grave-yard are very many monuments wor-^
thy of notice : one to the once well known Doctor
Barret, a man no less learned than eccentric. He
wrote memoirs of Swift, principally in reference to
his progress through that only world of the Doctor's
contemplation. Trinity College. By his will in 1821,
after bequeathing certain pecuniary legacies and an-
nuities therein particularly mentioned, he devised the
whole residue of his property, which was very consi-
derable, to trustees, " for the purpose of contributing
towards the relief of the sick and indigent, the poor
and naked, without favour or partiality." Near him
lies Sir Henry Jebb, a physician of the leas guilty
class, who contributed radier to the births than the
deaths of the community. Llserted in the outer ga-
ble wall of the church is a slab, to the memory of
George Clayton, who died in 1695, and to Walter
Pitz Simons, who died in 1699; while in a comer
of the church-yard is a large monumental stone, com-

344 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

memorative of the befor&-inentioDed Doctor Delany
and his lady. She had been first married to Richard
Tenison, imd died in 1741. The Doctor had been a
Senior Fellow of Trinity College, afterwards Dean
of Down,, and died in 1768. The position of this
monument is singularly impressive. It is inserted in
the boundary wall, that divides the Doctor's ancient
demesne from the grave-yard ; in the side wall of that
very temple hereafter mentioned, which his wife had
so affectionately decorated, and where they both had
passed the happiest hours of social and domestic en-
joyment. Poussin 8 celebrated picture of Arcadia,
the moral sublimity of the tomb in its perspective, and
the touching epitaph, ** 1 too was in Arcadia," could
not be more powerfully illustrated than on this occa-
sion. It was a scene to affect the deepest feelings,
and, as the foot glided through the luxuriant herbage
of the churchyard, a tremulous and awful sensation
seemed to suggest, that the matter, which once com-
posed the frames of those whose graves were beneath,
was now, by some vegetable transmigration, freshen-
ing in the grass, blooming in the flowers, or drooping
in the shrubs above them.

On the central elevation of this deserted village
is Delville House, the classic residence alluded to. A
tall close gate and wall conceal it from the view of
prying curiosity ; but these obstacles once removed,
and the mind's eye is rapidly attracted by the ancient
edifice with its bower window ; — the old garden walls
thickly flowering with the wild snap dragon ; — ^the
gracefully undulated grounds; — the broad terrace on

GLASNEVIX. 345

which the peripatetics of another day have glided and
philosophized ; — the magnificent trees on the brink
of the rivulet ; — ^the fine mount and the turret over-
looking the business of the distant city, the beauties
of the intervening country, and more solemnly glanc-
ing over the churchyard where its remembered owner
lies ; — ^the dark vault beneath that turret, where the
first impression of the Legion Club is supposed to
have been printed ; — ^the temple, with its fresco paint-
ing of St. Paul, and its medallion of the bust of Stella,
by Mrs. Delany; — the inscription on the frieze at its
front, " Fastigia despicit urbis,'* attributed to Swift,
and supposed to allude to the situation of this villa; —
the temples scattered through the little demesne ; —
the rustic bridges; — ^the bath; — ^the lonely willow,
dropping its feathery wreaths into the water, amidst
the lilies that floated around it ; — the venerable mul-
berry tree ; — its surrounding compeers of aged elms
and yews and ever-green oaks — all powerfully marked
the taste and elegance that formed and enlivened this
scene.

Yet could not Dean Swift's mock description of
the whole, addressed to its proprietor, be wholly for-
gotten : —

" Would you that DelvUle I describe ? —
Believe me, Sir, I will not gibe ;
For who would be satirical
Upon a thing so very small !
You sparce upon the borders enter,
Before you're at the very centre.
A single crow would make it night,
If o'er your farm he took his flight :

346 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Yet in the narrow compass we

Observe a vast variety i

Both walks, walls, meadows, and parterres,

Windows and doors, and rooms and stairs,

And hills and vales, and woods and fields.

And hay, and grass, and com it yields ;

All to your haggard brought so cheap in,

Without the mowing or the reaping ;

A razor, though to say't Pm loth.

Might shave you and your meadow both.

Tho* small your farm, yet here's a house

Full larger — to entertain a mouse,

But where a rat is dreaded more

Than furious Caledonian boar ;

For if 'tis entered by a rat,

There is no room to bring the cat.

A little riv'let seems to steal

Along a thing you call a vale.

Like tears a-down a wrinkled cheek,

Like rain along a blade of leek ;

And this you call your sweet meander,

Which might be suck'd up by a gander.

Could he but force his rustling bill

To scoop the channel of the rill ;

I'm sure you'd make a mighty clutter.

Were it as big as city gutter.

Next come I to your kitchen garden,

Which one poor mouse would fare but hard in ;

And round this garden is a walk

No longer than a tailor's chalk ;

Thus I compute what space is in it,

A snail creeps o'er it in a minute !

One lettuce makes a shift to squeeze

Up through a tuft you call your trees ;

And once a year a single rose

Peeps from the bud, but never blows :

In vain then you expect its bloom ;

It cannot blow for want of room.

GLASNBVIN.

347

lb short, in aU yotir boasted seat
There's nothing but yourself is — ^great."

Notwithstanding the ridicule of this description^
those gardens and walks were laid out by Doctor
Delany, in concert with the celebrated Doctor Hel-
sham ; while Walker praises the demesne, as the first
'< in which the obdurate and straight line of the
Dutch was softened into a curve, the terrace melted
into a swelling bank, and the walks opened to catch
the vicinal country."

In 1732 Swift, writing to Pope, makes the fol-
lowing' mention of Doctor Delany*s mode of living
here, aft«r his marriage with the Widow Tenison. —
•* Doctor Delany behaves himself very commendably,
converses only with his former friends, makes no pa* '
rade, but entertains them constantly at an elegant,
plentiful table, walks the streets as usual by daylight,
does many acts of charity and generosity, cultivates a
country-house about two miles distant, and is one of
those very few within my knowledge, on whom a great
access of fortune hath made no manner of change,
and particularly, he is as often without money as he

was before." And again : " Doctor Delany is the

only gentleman I know who keeps one certain day in
the week to entertain seven or eight friends at dinner,
and to pass the evening, where there is nothing of
excess either in eating or drink.'* In a letter of the
following year, the Dean writes to Mrs. Pendarves,
" The cold weather, I suppose, has gathered together
Doctor Delany's set ; the next time you meet, may I
beg the favour to make my compliments acceptable.

348 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

I recollect no entertainment with so much pleasure as
ivhat I received from that company. It has made me
very sincerely lament the many hours of my life that
I have lost in insignificant conversation." The win-
ter meetings were, however, principally held at the
Doctor's town residence in Stafford-street, as appears
from a letter of Mrs. Pendarves in 1735; "I am
sorry the sociable Thursdays, that used to bring toge-
ther so many agreeable friends at Doctor Delany's,
are broke up. Though Delville has its beauties, it is
more out of the way than Stafford-street."

With all these eloquent appeals of sensation and
reflection, the spectator seems influenced by a spell
that wafts him up the stream of time, leads him into
• a bygone century, and even identifies the rustic seat,
on which he moralizes, with the same era of " auld
lang syne." The graves give up their dead, and
Banquo*s chair was not so spiritually filled, as that
same seat on which he fancies the silent worthies
crowding, as erst in life they might have crowded.
The Athenian madman, however, was not more
vexatiously undeceived, than was the author of these
pages, when, with the full and wilful enjoyment of
this luxury, the unlettered gardener, referring his
uncontrollable admiration to the ingenious structure
of the seat itself, proudly announced it as the recent
production of his own hands. It was the dissolution
of a spell, and.

-" What seemed corporal

Melted as breath intp the wind."

Even with such a repulse from the former man-

GLASNEVm. 349

sion of the Dean, there is yet another object in the
village, which perpetuates his memory, — a small, cir-
cular building of two stories, near the bridge, con-
taining a male and female school, with a small endow-
ment from his bounty. There is also a Sunday-school
here for children of both sexes, to which the Bishop
of Kildare allows £10 per annum. The number of
pupils in the latter establishment was reported in
1834 to be thirty-five. Opposite the latter structure
is an alms-house, established in 1723, where four poor
widows are lodged, and receive each 1^. 6d. weekly.

Near this, on the bank of the river, are quarries
of that species of limestone called blackstone or calp,
a substance in some measure peculiar to the county of
Dublin, and supposed to form the general sub-soil of
the city. It is usually found under a bed of vegetable
mould and layer of limestone gravel, and commences
with black limestone, in some places separated by
layers of argillaceous schist, which descends into calp
by an imperceptible transition.

At the Dublin side of the village is a weaving
establishment of twelve looms for sail-cloth and
canvass.

Half the rectory of Glasnevin being impropriate
in the precentor, and the other half in the chancellor
of Christ Church, the parish ranks as but a curacy in
the deanery of Finglas, to which those dignitaries
alternately present. It extends over 999a. 3r. 21p.
plantation measure, comprising three townlands, and
has compounded for its tithes at so high a rate as
£184 per annum, some parts being assessed thereto

360 COUHTY OP DUBLIN.

at Ss. 2d. per acre. In the Catholic di^ensation the
parish is in the union of Clontarf. Its population
in 1834 was returned as 964 persons^ of whom 565
were Roman Catholics. The great part of the land
IB the parish belongs to the Bishop of Kildare as
Dean of Christ Church5 from which, and even earlier
appropriaiions of the denomination to the uses of the
churchf it appears to have derived its name of Glas-
nevin, i. e. the verdant consecrate(l ground. The
aereable rent is seven guineas in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of the village, lessening in the more remote
parts to £3; the wages of labour is from seven to nine
shillings per week.

As to the extent of the manor of Glasnevin, see
post at " Grangegonnan," by which name it is more
usually called.

In 544 the Annals of the Four Masters record the death of
Bercbaoy Abhot of Glasnoidfaen,* to whom are ascribed some
Irish prof^ecies, and a small poem in praise of &. Brigid.

In 745, say the Annals of Ulster, died Cialltrogh, Abbot of
« Gksnoidhen/'

In 1178 Archbishop Laurence O' Toole granted to the church
of the Holy Trinity, i. e. Christ Church (inter o/ui), a third part
of Cloghnei, a third part of Killallin and Lesluan, << Glasneoden,**
Magduroia, &c^ which gift was confirmed in 1179 by Pq>e Alex-
ander the Third, as of « Glasneden with the mill/' Accordingly
in Pope Urban's Bull of the year 1186, Glasnoiden, with its
church, is enumerated amongst the possessions of Christ Church,
and its right thereto was confirmed by King John in 1200, and by
Archbishop Luke in 1240, as " the Grange of Glasnevin, with the
church and appurtenances." This church was dedicated to St.
Maplas, or as the Repertorium Viride styles him, St. Movus.

• This locality is, however, by 8<»ne referred to tlie county Kildare.

OLASNBVIK. 351

In the taxatioQ of the reveoues of Christ Churdi in I3O69 the
manor of Glasnevin, therein stated as contuomg three canicates
of land, was rated with its tithes at forty-eight shillings,* and it is
observable, that it is there rated <&tinetly from « the Grange of
Gorman."

In 1610 John Bflilie had a grant of certain premises here,
the tithes being q^^ecially excepted.

The regsl visitation of 1615 states the rectory as still impro-
jpriate to the church of the Holy Trinity, that Richard Wyburne
mtm curate, and that the church and chancel were then in good
repair.

In 1634 John Bathe died seised of /eighty acres in Glasnevin
alias Clonmell, which he held by fealty only.f

In 1666 James Duke of York had a grant of Glasnevin 230a.
plantation measure, Stuckcoole 120a. like measure, &c. &c.

in 1708 the administratrix of Maurice Berkley made claim (at
Chichester House), and was allowed a leaBehold interest in part of
Glasnevin*

In 1703 Isaac Hobroyd of Dublin, merchant, had a grant of
the residue of a term for years of the lands called Draycot's farm
in Glasnevin 41a., the estate of Midiael Chamberlain attainted.
For a notice of Glasnevin in 1782, see " Santry."

Some time since, in removing the lumber in one of the out
offices of DekiUe house, a printing-press was discovered concealed
among it, which, according to tradition, was used here in 1735 in
giving to^the world the first edition of Swift's << Legion Club.**
It is generally understood, that this bitter satire was not printed
in Dublin, as no one there would undertake its publication, and, as
the Dam pwsed the summer of 1735 at Delvffle, and the work
appeared in 1736, the tradition appears to have some foundation*

In 1759 the Right Honourable Henry Singleton, Master of the
Rolls, and who had previously been Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas in Ireland, was interred here.

In 1785 Mr. John Rogerson, in his bequest to the Incorpo-
ratfd Soc^y (before albded to in the « General History of the

• Black Book of Christ Church. t Inquis. in Cane Hib.

352 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

County of Dublin'*), left about sixteen acres in Glasnevin (inter
alia) for that object.

In reference to its indigenous botany, Glasnevin
presents salvia verbenaca, wild clary; avena ftaves-
censy yellow oat grass, perhaps some of the finest
pasturage of the meadow ; with its most congenial
companion, hordeum pratense^ meadow barley ; iriti-
cum repenSf couch grass; scabiosa sucdsoy deviPs
bit scabious ; sherardia arvensis^ little field madder ;
galiuin paiicstrei "white water bed-straw; galium apc^
rinei goose grass ; alchemilla arverms^ parsley piert;
potamogeton pusiUum^ small pond weed, floating on
the surface of the water, and affording an agreeable
shelter to the fish; myosotis palitstrisy forget-me-not;
myosotis arvensis^ field scorpion-grass ; lithospermum
arvensey corn gromwell, flowering in May, the bark
of its root tinges wax and oil of a beautiful red ;
primula vulgaris^ common primrose — ^its leaves are
found to serve for feeding silkworms ; primvla verts,
cowslip ; anagallis arvensis, common scarlet pimper-
nel ; convolvulics sepium, great bindweed ; viola tri-
color, pansy violet ; verbascum thapsus, great mullein,
which is said to intoxicate fish, so that they may be
caught with the hand ; the down also is used for tin-
der ; chenopodium bonzes Henricus, mercury goose-
foot ; torilis nodosa, knotted hedge parsley ; scandix
pecten veneris, shepherd's needle ;ywmarta officinalis,
common fumitory ; Jiimaria capredlata, climbing fu-
mitory ; vicia cracca, tufted vetch ; tri/olium fili-^
forme, slender yellow trefoil ; lotiis corniculatits,
common bird's-foot trefoil ; ertphorbia helioscopia.

QLA8NEVXN. 353

sun spurge ; alchemiUa mdgarisy lady's mantle ; bUium
perenney English mercury ; Tierctcleiim spondyliunh
cow parsnip, the stalks of which the Russians not only
prepare for food, but also procure from them a very
intoxicating spirit ; aUivm carinatumj mountain gar-
lic ; allium vinealey crow garlic, which communicates
a rank taste to the milk and butter ; rumex crispw,
curled dock, a troublesome and unprofitable weed }
rumex acutus^ sharp dock ; rvmex acetoseUoj sheep's
sorrel ;jpo^^on2^m amphtbium, amphibious persicaria;
polffgonimi perstcctrioy spotted persicaria ; polygortum
canvolvulusj black bind weed ; lythrum scUicartOf
purple loose strife ; pi/ncs maJus^ wild apple-tree ;
spinsa ulmaria^ meadow sweet ; nibus corylifoliusj
hazel-leaved bramble ; papaver somniferumj white
poppy ; anemone Appenntna, mountain anemone, flow-
ering in March, a very ornamental plant ; ranunctUtis
a^uricomuSf goldilocks ; lamiztm amplesica/uley henbit
dead-nettle; clinopodium viUgare, common basil;
thlaspi arvenset pennycress ; sist/mbrium sophia^
fine-leaved hedge mustards

In the adjoining ditches, the unproductive ex-
hausting agrosHs alba^ marsh bent grass } the luxu-
riant sweet and succulent aira aqtcaticch water hair
grass, the grass which is supposed to contribute chiefly
to the sweetness of Cottenham cheese, and the fine-
ness of Cambridge butter ; sium nodiflorum, pro-
cumbent water parsnip ; epUobium hirsutunh great
hairy willow herb; myrrhis temulenta, rough cow
parsley ; smyrnium olusatrumi Alexanders ; vibumtmi
opuluSf guelder rose, which, when in bloom, exhibits

354 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

a sin^larly 6De appearance ; mnunculus flammuhtf
lesser spearwort crowfoot ; mentha hirsuta, hairy
mint; hypericum quddrangtUttm^ square St. Joha'a
wort ; sparganiitm ramomm^ branched bur reed.—
On the walls and dry grounds, veronica arvensis^ wall
speedwell; valeriaita rubra, red valerian; glyceria
figidoy hard sweet grass; parietaria qffidmUis, wall
pellttory ; hedera helis^ ivy ; rumes sctUatuSy Frendi
or garden sorrel, its leaves are of a gratefully acid
flavour ; antirrhinum majus, great snap-dragon ; chei^
rafOhus JruHcuiosuss wall flower.^ — In the hedges^
melica tmiflora^ wood melic grass, a beautiful little
sylvan plant, and perhaps the earliest of our grasses;
9Qlamim dulcamara^ woody nightshade or bitter sweety
flowering in September ; lonicera periclymervum,
common honeysuckle ; geum urhanum, common
avens; geranium Robertianumf herb Robert; hy^
pericum androscemum, tutsal ; stachys sylvaUca^
hedge woundwort; mctasepiumy common bush-vetch;
—On the road sides and banks, centaurea nigra^
black knap-weed; arum maxmlaium, cuckow pint;
centa/urea scabiosa, greater knap-weed ; orchis pyra^
midaliSj pyramidal orchis.

In the meadow pastures and cultivated fields^
veronica serpyUifolia, smooth speedwell; veronica
agresHe, germander chickweed j^^ta olitoria^ lamVft
lettuce ; aira ccespiiosOj turfy hair grass, the rough*
est and coarsest grass that grows in pastures and mea^
dows ; chenopodium album, white goosefoot ; che*
nopodium ficifolivm, fig-leaved goosefoot; hunivm
flearaomm, pig-nut; orchiz maculatch spotted pahnate
orchis ; eupl$arbia peptus, petty spurge ; stachys am-

OLA8NEVIN.

355

i^na, ambiguous woundwort. — In the waste grounds,

veronica hederifoHa^ ivy-leaved speedwell; sagina

procutnbensy procumbent pearl-wort ; cardutis acmir

thmdeSy welted thistle; gnaphaUum germarucum^

common cudweed ; anthemis cotuloj fetid chamomile ;

urtica urensj small nettle j atriplex patula, halbert-

leaved orache j airiplex cmgustifolia^ narrow-leaved

orache ; reseda luteola^ yellow weed; papaver duhtnm^

long smooth^headed poppy ; lamium albmn^ white

dead nettle ; cochlearia armoraceay horse radish ;

brassicanapttSj rape; crepis tectorwm^ smooth hawk^s

beard. — In the watery places and streams, angelica

^Ivestris^ wild angelica ; allium ursirmm^ ramsons ;

cnictis palustriSi marsh plume-thistle ; tussUago far-

Jhra, colt's foot. — In the Bishop of Kildare's woods,

festuca sylvoHca^ slender wood fescue grass j bromus

erectusj upright brome grass ; bromus aspert wood

brome grass ; rumex sanguineus^ red-veined dock. —

In the adjacent old quarries, convolvulus arvensis^

small bind weed ; daticics carota^ wild carrot ; cBgo-^

podium podagrariai herb gerarde ; pimpinella saxir

Jraga^ common bumet saxifrage ; trifolium procum-

hensj hop trefoil. — In shady places, glechoma hedC'

racea^ ground ivy.

In the com fields, brassica campestris^ wild naven ;
sinapis arvensisy wild mustard ; raphanus rapharm-
trum^ wild radish ; gcdedpsis tetrahity common hemp-
nettle. — On the road sides, potentilla reptans, creep-
ing cinquefoil ; senebiera coronopus^ swine^s cress ;
cardamine hirsute^ hairy ladies' smock ; sisymbrium
iriSf London wild rocket, so called, because it was

2 A 2

356 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

supposed to have been generated about London by tbc

great fire in 1666; bromus mollis^ soft brome grass,

the common ofl^pring of bad husbandry and exhausted

soils ; brormis sterilise barren brome grass ; avena

pubescensy downy oat grass ; hordeum murinum,

wall barley, a plant, which, when it intrudes in upland

grass fields, is most destructive, and the hay in such

cases is almost rejected by cattle, as the sharp spines

that constitute the beard attach themselves to the

mouth of the animal, causing irritation and pain, and

teaze the beast, instead of nourishing him ; galium

verum^ yellow bedstraw ; equisetum arvense^ com

hoi-se-tail ; centaur ea nigra^ black knapweed ; arum

maculaium^ cuckow pint. — On the banks of the river,

between Glasnevin and Drumcondra, vinca major ^

greater periwinkle : and, on the ditches between this

and Finglas Bridge, campanula tracheliumj nattle-

leaved bell flower ; vinca major ^ greater periwinkle ;

torilis anthriscusy upright hedge parsley ; rubusglan-

duhsusj glandular bramble.

At the city side of the village are

THE BOTANIC GARDENS

of the Royal Dublin Society, a most interesting ob-
ject, situated where was once the demesne of Tickell
the poet, the literary executor of Addison, and who
came to Ireland as his assistant, when he was secretary
to the Eari of Sutherland in 1714. In 1725 Tickell
was himself appointed secretary, an oflBce which he
filled until his death in 1740. This place was pur-

THE BOTANIC GARDENS.

357

chased, subject to a ground rent, for the sum of
£2000, from his representatives, for the scientific ob-
jects to which it is devoted.

The entrance lodges and connecting gates were
erected by a donation of £700 from Mr. Pleasants,
and are very handsome. The gardens and their ap-
pendages occupy a space of thirty acres, the river
Tolka forming a sweeping boundary at one side.
They stand on limestone gravel with a very thin co-
vering of soil, and are enriched with almost every
known species of flowers, shrubs, trees, and plants^
arranged in their proper classes, and also contain a
curious collection of exotics, preserved in glass-houses
heated to the temperature of their respective consti-
tutions. " One of these," says the present able Pro-
fessor of Botany, Doctor Litton, in a letter which he
has*communicated on the subject, " has been enlarged,
and exhibits one of the most beautiful groups of the
vegetable forms that can be seen. Many valuable
herbaceous plants,'' he adds, '^ and some beautiful trees
have recently been introduced into the open ground,
which, it is hoped, will, in a few years, add as much
to the scientific value as to the picturesque beauty of
the garden.''

Doctor Wade may be said to have been the foun-
der of this establishment. He drew up a memorial
to the Irish parliament, upon which various sums
have been granted for the object, and acts passed for
its maintenance and regulation, from the thirtieth to
the thirty-eighth year of the reign of George the
Third. Certainly no institution could have been de-

358 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

vised more important, in a medical and agricultural
view, than this colony of plants and flowers. Its uti-
lity had been long previously experienced in Sweden^
where, with a climate and soil so unfavourable, by
the philosophy of Linnsus's botanical garden, they
naturalized a greater variety of trees, shrubs, com, and
grasses, than has been effected in most of the south-
em climates.

<< The plants," says Cromwell, in his excursions
through Ireland, " are tastefully subdivided into com-
partments, insulated in green swards, and communica-
ting by pathways, the intervals being filled with scat-
tered shrubs, so that, while the most regular classifi-
cation is actually preserved, and all the series follow
in such succession, that the most minute can be imme-
diately found, the whole presents an appearance of
unstudied yet beautiful confusion." The arrange-
ment and contents of the entire grounds may be con--
ceived from the following detail, as chiefly supplied
by Doctor Litton.

1. HORTUS L1NNABN8I8,

divided into plantce herhacecB Bndjmcticetum et or--
boretuniy comprising not less than six acres, and situ-
ated in the centre of the groimds, admirably illustrat-
ing the system of the great naturalist whose name it
bears.

2. HoRTUs Britannicus.

affords an extensive collection of plants indigenous
in the British islands.

TEE BOTANIC OABDBNS.

359

8. HORTUS E8CC7LBNTOS,

devoted to the experimental cultivation of such plants
as are adapted to culinary purposes, and subdivided
into those used for their roots, stalks or leaves, flowers,
fruit or seeds, or for their leguments or pods. <' This
department," says Doctor Litton, << has been latterly
much improved, and an orchard added, containing a
good collection of the hardy fruit trees, with most of
their important varieties.**

4. HORTOS MSDICUS,

containing every plant considered to possess medical
properties.

5. HoRTUS RUSTICQS,

subdivided into natural and artificial grasses.

0. Aquarium licustrb bt palustrb,

a comparatively recent addition. A sheet of water
200 yards in length, but of irregular breadth, has been
obtained by excavating the bank of the Tolka, and
admitting its water into a little pond covered with
aquatics, as are its swampy shores with marsh plants
atid heaths. American pines and other natives of a
transatlantic soil flourish on the banks of this inte-
resting aquarium, and of another, yet more modem,
filled by the hydraulic machine hereafter mentioned.

7. Cryptooamia.
The results in this division of the garden have not

300 cbUKTt OF DUBLW*

been commensuFate with the expectations originally
formed, although the spot selected, being a bank de*
scending rapidly to the river, and stadded with high
trees to an actually gloomy degree, appears as adapted
to the natural propensities of this tribe of plants, as
any that could be chosen.

8. Flowbb Gabdbn,

not remarkable either for the beauty or variety of it»
productions.

9. Hot Houses and Consbrvatoribs fob Exotics.

The contents of this department are no less remark-^
able for variety than beauty : the Cactus Grandiflora,
which blows only in the night, and the Domboeia or
Fine of Norfolk Island, which, in its native soil, at-
tains the altitude of 200 feet, are, perhaps, the most
deserving of remark. A dome has been constructed
round the latter, capable of any degree of elevation to
which the plant can rise.

The appearance of the grounds and arrangement
of the plants have latterly undergone some advantar
geous alteration. An hydraulic engine has been con-
structed for raising water from the river for the use
of the grounds ; many new walks have been formed^
and the old reduced so as to afford more space for cul-
tivation; and rock work has also been formed in many
parts, for exhibiting the species appropriated to this
class of stations. A spot, called the Mill Field, on
the north side of the river Tolka, has been recently

PROSPECT CEMETERY.

361

coBnected with these gardens, partially planted with
willows as a salicetum, and otherwise employed for
agricultural purposes. The Professor's house, which
contuns the hotanical lecture room, and which was
the residence of Tickell, happily remains unchanged.
The annual expense of supporting these gardens has
been stated as varying from £1500 to £2000 per an-
num, including salaries to the Professor, superintend-
ant, two assistants, twelve gardeners, six apprentices,
rent, and casual expenditure for alterations, repturs^
the purchase of plants, tools, &;c. &c.

There is not a scene in the vicinity of Dublin
more instructively pleasing than this. Even he, who
is unlearned in the science of botany, must admire the
beautiful arrangement of the grounds, — the charming
imdulations, — the fairy glens, — the mounts, — ^the rock
works appropriately furnished, — the ponds and their
lovely aquatic occupants, — the fountain, — the river
walk, terminating in that traditionally marked as Ad-
dison*s favourite, and where Tickell is said to have
composed his ballad of Colin and Lucy ; — the clumps
of venerable elms, — the solemn rookery, — the vistas
of the city and the bay, and above all the monitory
watch towers of that adjacent city of the dead,

PROSPECT CEMETERY.

And well indeed may the visiter, who treads the
mazes of its monuments, deem it a city of the dead.
Already, though only open about four years, it is
said to contain upwards of 16,000 bodies. It com-

362 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

prises nine British acres, handsomely planted and
laid out with gravel walks, having in the centre a
chapel, where prayers are oflfered for the deceased
there interred, while at each comer of the ground in
a watdi tower, in which guards are nightly kept to
prevent the violation of the graves. The Botanic
Gardens, living with the beauties of the vegetaUe
creation, and animated by the human groups that fre-
quent them, form at one side a boundary of such
striking contrast to this magazine of mortality, as can*
not but affect the most thoughtless visitant. There
all is laughing, life, and joyous hope, — ^here lies the
youth, once happy too, who looked as confidently to
a sunny future — this world is now closed above him.
Here the ambition, that possibly in life would have
wept to be bounded even by the widest speculations,
is straitened in a narrow sodded pit ; the pride,
that dazzled in its days of nature, is coldly wrapt in
the mouldering winding sheet ; the worm is nurtured
in the cheek whose smile was once so joyfully attrac-
tive ; the infant, whose lisp was a parent's best prized
eloquence, lies cradled in the premature embrace of
death. The lovers, the friends, the relatives that
worshipped each other through life, now haply slum-
ber side by side, yet know no reciprocity of feeling,
no touch of sympathy, no pulse of kindred. If to all
those natural reflections the visiter superadds the ho-
liness of solitude and magic of moonlight, they can-
not fail to inspire the most chastening reflections, and,
like the wand of the prophet, draw tears from the
most flinty heart.

THE ROYAL CANAL. 363

The eflPect of the scene is, however, impaired by
the arithmetical gradations of the burial compart*
ment8» which are arranged according to the fees paid,
and yet more by the letters and figures that mark the
walls and tombstones, referring the inquirer, as by
longitude and latitude, to the registry of every indivi-
dual grave.

The road here passes over the

THE ROYAL CANAL,

a line of inland navigation, which commences about a
mile beyond this point. It was constituted under the
29 Geo. III. c. 33 ; the 30 Geo. IH. c. 20; 32 Geo.
IIL c. 26; 38 Geo. III. cs. 54 & 79; 43 Geo. III.
(Loc. & Pers.) c. xxii; 53 Geo. III. c. 101 ; 55 Geo.
III. c. 182; and 58 Geo. III. c. 35; and, having
been carried far into the county of Westmeath by the
original company, was, on their failure, completed to
the Shannon at the expense of government. Through-
out its course it is forty-two feet wide at the surface,
twenty-four at the bottom, and has locks and a depth
of water calculated for boats of from forty to fifty tons
burden. At its extremity beyond Phibsborough, there
is an extensive basin, entered by an aqueduct, for the
use of the boats trading on the line, while at the en-
trance of that village, a branch communicates with
the river Liffey by sea-locks, capable of admitting
ships of 150 tons burden.

From the point where these two cuts unite, this
line of navigation passes inland near Castleknock^

364 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

Lucan, and Leixlip, and crosses the Rye, one of the
Liffey*s tributaries, on an aqueduct of one arch, sup-
porting a yast body of earth, on the summit of which
the canal and trackways pass at an elevation of near
100 feet above the river. It next visits Carton, May-
nooth, and Kilcock, crosses the Boyne on a plain but
elegant aqueduct of three arches, passes near Kinnc-
gad, encompasses MuUingar, thence by Coolnahay
and Ballinacarrig, and in the neighbourhood of Bally-
mahon, into the Shannon at Tarmonbarry.

Crossing this canal, and leaving at left a strip of
land, anciently called << Glasmanogue,'' the tourist
enters the populous village of

PHIBSBOROUOH,

where is a neat Roman Catholic church, and in the
floor beneath are schools for children of both sexes.
A savings'-bank was also established here in 1830.
The district, strictly called

GRANG£-G0BMAN,

succeeds, an ancient townland, now the property of
the Earl of Rathdown.

The manor, which is otherwise called that of
Glasnevin, comprehends a considerable portion of the
modem city of Dublin. By a return from the Re-
gister, it is stated to contain to the north of the river
Liffey, the whole of the wealthy and populous parish
of St. George, including within it Mountjoy-square

ORANGE-QORMAX.

365

and several of the adjacent streets, as far as the north
side of Frederick-street ; Great Britain-street from
the Rotunda and the north side of Summerhill ; the
parish of Grange-Gorman, within which are Grange-
Gorman-lane, Manor-street, Prussia-street, Aughrim-
street, the village of Phibsborough, which may be
considered a part of the city itself, and the parish of
Glasnevin. Its limits are also said to extend over
the baronies of Coolock and Castleknock, the im-
portant district of Kingstown, Killiney, Dalkey, Stil-
lorgan, and other places of minor note as far as Bray,
all in the barony of Rathdown. The authority, under
which this jurisdiction is exercised, is stated to be a
charter granted by King James the First in 1603 to
the then newly incorporated body, the Dean and
Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, who are
lords of the manor of Glasnevin, and of other manors
within the liberty.

Grange- Gorman also gives its name to the parish,
which, as the rectory is impropriate in the preben-
daries and vicars-choral of Christ Church, ranks as
curacy in connexion with the city of Dublin, and ex-
tends, or rather has been assessed to the public charges
as extending, over 450 Irish acres. The census of
1831 states its population as 7382 persons, while the
parliamentary return of 1820 mentions, that "the
tithes arising out of it are paid to the dean and chap-
ter of Christ Church, but whether it was ever consi-
dered as a parish is not known." That body nominate
the curate, and allocate a salary of £10 per annum
for the performance of the duties. The Report adds.

366 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

that there are no traces of a church or churchyard
here ; but the Ecclesiastical Commissioners hare re-
cently granted £575 5s. 2d. for the erection of a
church.

In 1178 Archbishop Laurence O'Toole, when confirming the
possessions of Christ Church, enumerated amongst them the
Grange of Grange- Gorman and its appurtenances, the wood oi
Salcock, &€., whidi title, Archbishop Luke about the year 1240
further ratified. Soon afterwards, Kichard Tyrrel renounced all
ckdm herein to the fraternity of Christ Church,* and it was,
thereupon, taxed as four carucates of land, at forty-eight shillings^
payable to that community, Glasnevin being distinctly rated at the
same time, as before-mentioned at that locality.

At the time of the dissolution, the religious house of St. Wol-
Stan's was seised of one messuage and fourteen acres of arable
land here,f which were afterwards granted, with other possessions
of that house, to Sir John Allen of Allenscourt in the county of
Kildare.

In 1559 the dean and chapter of Christ Church received a
royal mandate, directing them to confirm to Francis Agard, the
manor, place, or farm of Grange-Gorman. His family were ac-
cordingly, at the commencement of the seventeenth century, found
seised of this manor, one house, six messuages, and 200 acres,
stated to have been so granted in the time of Queen Elizabeth to
Francis Agard in fee, by the dean and chapter of Christ Church,
Dublin, who had previously acquired same in frankalmoigne.^

In 1663 Colonel John Daniel, in consideration of £126, sold
part of the lands of Grange-Gorman, to be enclosed in the Phoenix
Park.

In the eighteenth century, the principal part of the manor was
the property of Mr. George Henry Monck, through whom it has
passed to the present proprietor.

* Liber Niger, fbl. 92. f Inquis. in Offic Rememb.

X Tnquiii. in Cane. Hib.

GRANOE-OORMAN.

367

Grange- Gorman coatribates £40 of its rental to
the support of the Mue-Coat Hospital.

In Manor-street» i/vitbin this district, there is a
Theological Seminary, established by the Irish EvaxH
gelical Society of London, who allow £200 per an-
num to the head-master, and £100 to his assistants
In 1826 it had but seven pupils.

In this district are also three establishments worthy
of notice.

1st. The House of Industry, of which, Wakefield
justly observes, ^< not merely in name, but in fact, a
bouse of industry, an asylum for every person willing
to labour ; that receives a human being a prey to
idleness, loaded with filth, and friendless, and returns
the same individual to the world, industrious, clean,
and healthy." It was instituted in 1773, and smce
supported by parliamentary annual grants, latterly
about £20,000. Annexed to the establishment are
surgical and medical wards, fever hospitals, a lunatic
asylum, a dispensary, a school &c., covering within
the whole establishment eleven acres of ground. The
Institution receives the interest of three valuable le-
gacies. Baron Vryhoven's £1612 10*. Orf., Thomas
Barry's £1496 14*. 10(2., and General Lyons's
£1131 10*. 5d.j all vested in 3^ per cent, goven^
ment stock ; while the funds are managed with such
economy and prudence, that it is calculated the mo-
* derate sum of £5 annually clothes and maintains each
individual pauper.

2nd. The Richmond General Penitentiary, adr
joining the House of Industry. Its front, towards

368 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Grange- Gorman -lane, measures 700 feet, and con-
sists of a centre of considerable breadth, crowned by
a large pediment, the wings being also of great ex-
tent. The portals are at a distance from the main
body of the building, and are connected by high
curtain walls. There is an extremely handsome
cupola, containing a clock with four dials, over the
centre of the front, which is built of a black stone
quarried in the vicinity of Dublin, the ornamental
parts are all of mountain granite. The first stone of
this structure was laid in 1812 by the Duke of Rich-
mond, then viceroy of Ireland. Its erection cost up-
wards of £40,000. At the rere, retired from all
communication, are a number of cells, where the
culprits are inclosed in solitary confinement on their
first admission ; if their conduct improves, they are
gradually removed into other cells more cheerfully
situated, and where they are permitted to associate.

3rd. The Female Orphan House, an establish-
ment instituted in 1790, capable of accommodating
160 children, and having annexed a very handsome
Gothic chapel. It has a permanent income by en-
dowments of nearly £500 per annum, exclusive of
casual resources, and had, heretofore, parliamentary
grants to the total amount of £50,414 late Irish cur-
rency. The number educated and maintained here
used to be about 150, but the administration of the
establishment confined its benefits to Protestants. Its •
average yearly expenditure was in 1812, stated to be
£1633.

369

THE THIRD EXCURSION.

Repassing through some of the localities of the
last route, (the villages of Drumcondra and Cross-
guns), the tourist, by a more frequented northern line
of road, arrives at a hill which overhangs the village
of

FINOLAS-BBIDGE.

TiOolcing from this eminence, at right are seen the
Botanic Grardens, and the demesne of the Bishop of
Xildare ; at left, a swelling hill with a tea-house and
turret; in front the romantic Tolka, winding through
the depth of the valley, beneath the bridge that gives
name to the locality ; beyond the river, old quarry
boles and sand-hills fringed with the ever ornamental
furze, the woods of Doctor Gregory's Asylum, and
the little village diffiising upwards its blue, cheerful
wreaths of curling smoke. On descending and pass-
ing the bridge, the Tolka is seen tumbling over a
€all beside the ruins of a cotton-mill and factory, that
once gave employment to many of this vicinity, until
•consumed by an accidental fire some years since.

The river hereabouts affords a species of the lam-
prey, lampefra Jluviatilfs minora accounted the best
bait for cod, and which is also found in the Liffey,

2 B

3/0 COUNTY or DUBLIN.

likewise the white and yellow trout and the roach ;
and among the stones and in the banks the river cray-
fish is frequent; while to the botanist, the vicinity of
Fingla^-bridge presents alchemilla arvensiSf parsley
piert ; senebiera coronoptLSj swine*s-cress. — In the
ditches and hedges, rosa canirm^ dog-rose. — In the
old quarries, hromus asper, wood-brome ; echium
vtilgare, common viper's bugloss, whose flowers are
so grateful to bees ; pimpinella saxifraga^ common
bumet saxifrage ; arctium lappa^ common burdock j
myriaphyllum verticillatum^ whorled milfoil ; a variety
of that elegant little plant, the hriza mediae common
quaking g^rass with the panicle white. — In the adja-
cent waste grounds, hromus sterilis, barren brome-
grass ; cochlearia armoraceth horse-radish. — On the
rpofs of houses,, sempervivum tectorumi house leek ;
crepis tectorumi smooth hawkVbeard. — In the moist
fields, cnicus palustrisy marsh plume*thistle ; and ia
the sand-pits, carex htrta, hair-sedge. Lands abou^
this locality are let at from £5 to £10 per acre.

A road cut through sand-hills conducts hence tQ
the picturesquely situated village of

FINOLAS,

|. popularly celebrated as the sc^ie of the May gauev

^ for the citizens of Dublin. >

1 The p^ish church here is a [^ain, but neat stroo

1^ ture, on an eminence commanding a fine prospect.

I It contains some interesting ancient memorials } a

mural skb to Colonel Robert Kidges^ who died m

FINGLAS.

371

1675, and was here Interred, details the deaths and
places of Interment of his eight sons and two daugh*
ters. Near It Is a black marble slab to the family of
Settle, and their descendants from 1650. On the
opposite wall, a monument commemorates Doctor
Richard Challoner Cobbe, Treasurer of St. Patrick's^
who died in 1767- Close to It Is another to Captain
William Flower, who died In 1681, having served In
Ulster under the Earl of Granard, at the time that
the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion was raging in
Scotland. It also records some descendants of his
name. Beside the communion-table, on the Moor, is
a flat flagstone to Sir Daniel Tresswell, Knight, who
died In 1670, having served both the Kings Charles^
This monument states that it was erected by Dame
Heme, his relict, daughter of Sir Thomas Flowden
of Plowden Hall in Shropshire. At its foot is a yet
older stone to Richard Plowden Tresswell, who died
in 1612, while, under the communion-table, are flat
tombstones of very ancient date to the families of
Bagshaw and Ryves.

In the churchyard is the ruin of a stone cross of
granite, being with its present pedestal about ten feet
high. Near it is an enclosed monument to John
Pockllngton, Esq., once second Baron of the Irish
Exchequer, who died in 1731 ; also, an old monu^
ment of the Esdalls (Isdalls) from 1728, and a hand-
some sarcophagus to Mr* Long, formerly of Mary*
street*

Near the church is a glebe-house, with 16a, 3r.
IOp. of glebe-land adjoining for the vicar, and 20a.

2 b2

11^

372 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

for the rector. The latter endowment, however, does
not appear to be enjoyed.

There is also a small, neat Roman Catholic church
in the village. The parish charity-school is supported
by the interest of money bequeathed to it at various
times, and reported in 18 12 as amounting to about £20
per annum. There are also two national schools here,
to which the Board contributes £10 per annum.
Their number of* pupils in 1834 was 121,

Here are likewise two lunatic asylums, with gar-
dens and pleasure-grounds attached to each,— Dr.
Harty*s, which in 1829 had twenty-two patients; and
Dr. Duncan's, reported at the same time as having
forty-two. Near the village is a spa, formerly cele-
brated for its sanative virtues, and assimilated by Dr.
Kutty, in his classification, to that of Malvern. It is
now, however, wholly neglected. It was originally
dedicated as a holy well to St. Patrick. Near this,
it may be remarked, sulphate of magnesia occurs
efflorescent in fine fibres.

The parish of Finglas comprises 4696a. 2r. 26p.,
and a population, returned in 1831 as2110 persons.
The rectory appertains to the chancellorship of St
Patrick's, and includes the chapelries of St. Marga-
ret's, Artane, and the Ward, the rectorial tithes of the
whole producing £481 5^. Sd., while the vicarage^
linited with the curacy of Ballycoolane, is in the gift
of the metropolitan. The Roman Catholic union com-
prises Finglas, St. Margaret's, and the Ward. The
principal proprietors of the fee in the parish are the
Archbishop of Dublin, Sir Compton Domville, Mr.

FINGLA6.

37a

Hamilton, Sir R. Gore, Messrs. Arthur, Scgrave,-
White, &c. Rent varies from £3 to £5, while a cabin
without land produces from £3 to £4 per annum.

An abbey was founded very early in tbis Tillage, possibly by
St. Patrick, wbo, having passed from Meatb to Finglas, ascended
a hill and, looking down upon the village of Dublin, is reported by
his biographers to have blessed it and prophesied, that, although
then but a small village, it should one day be a city of wealth, and
advanced to be the metropolis of the kingdom. The abbey, how-
ever, was dedicated to St. Canice, whose festival was kept here od
tfee 11th of October, and a memoir of his life, as Primate Usher
states, long preserved in this church. St. Canice was one of
the disciples of the celebrated Stt Finian at Clonard, was inti-
mately connected by holy friendship with St. Columbkille, whom
lie often vbited in the island of lona, and was himself the founder
ef many religious establishments. Finglas was long subsequently
a rural bbhopric, and its dignitary indifferently styled Bishop or
Abbot

In 758 died Faolcha, Abbot of Finglas.* In 786 died Con-
€omrac, Bishop of Finglas.f In 795 died Dhullitter its abbot.}
In 807 died Flan Mac Kelly, an anachorite, a scribe, and Bishop of
Finglas. In 814 died Fergus of Rathlurg, its abbot. In 820-
died the Abbot Cuimneach. In 837 Bran died, Bishop of Fin-
glas, as did Robert in 865. In 1011 died the Abbot Cian, and
m 1038 the Abbot Cairbe O'Connellan, died at Rome. The An-
nals of the Four Masters record the deaths of various other abbots
or bbhops of Finglas.

In 1171 Finglas was the chief scene of action on the occasion
ef the ineffective siege which Roderic O'Conor laid to Dublin, an
event more particularly detailed at that period in the << Memoirs
of the Archbishops of Dublin."

Soon afterwards a most wanton and impolitic violation was
perpetrated here, by a group of English archers, who had the te-
merity to cut down some of the beeches and yew trees, which St.
Ganice himself had planted in its long-revered and holy ground.

• Annals of the Four Masters.

tlb.

tib.

874 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

So sacrilegious did the act appear^ even to the inyaders them-
selves, that Camhrensisy ^rho relates the circumstance, attributes
to it the visitation of a plague, which swept away not only the im-
mediate offenders but many of the other English forces. There
are sUlI, however, some of the descendants of these consecrated
trees in the graveyard. The sombre appearance of its immortal
foliage well adapted it for these hallowed enclosures, where like*
wise its baneful properties were not likely to be communicated to
the browsing herd.

It b impossible to look upon this dark evergreen without re-
flecting, that it was once the great armoury of battle and death*
It was by their bows of yew the English won Crescy, Poictiers, and
Agincourt. It was by these the adventurers of Henry the Second's
time prevailed over the natives of our own country ; and, although
it proved fatal to three BriUsh kings, Harold, William Rufus, and
Ilichard Coeur de Lion, its cultivation was earnestly enjoined
and promoted. In Switzerland it is appropriately styled WilUam.
Tell's tree, in memory of their patriot archer.

In 1184 the land of Finglas was given by John Earl of Mor-
ton, afterwards king John, to Robert de St. Michael. It was
subsequently granted to the see of Dublin, and that grant con-
firmed by Pope Clement the Third, by King Edward in 1337,
and by King Richard in 1895.

In 1191 a Bull of Ifope Celestine the Third enumerates tha
church of Finglas, amongst the possessions of the newly-erected
College of St. Patrick, as it had been stated, in a previous Bull
,!fi of 1179, to be one of the thirteen prebends of Archbishop Co-.

/| I myn's said establishment. To it were subservient the chapels of

; I Dunsoghly, Ward, and Artane.

^ j In 1202 Hugh Hussey granted to Christ Church a parcel of

I I land, extending from the high road leading to Finglas up to Athu-

^^ j damas, and about the last place to Arduearnaid as far as the valley

near Kilmolidoid and so to the Avon-Liffey and Cumoynagal.*
In 1207 died Maolpeader O'Colman, comorb of Canice.
In 1216 Pope Innocent the Third confirmed to the see of
Dublin, (inter (did) Finglas with its appurtenances, and, about thq

• Regist. of Christ Church.

FINOLAS.

^376

igrair ISl^Ardibbhop Henry deLouadres liSsfgned to flw iuppo^t
of the Chancellor of St* Patrick's Cathedral, the church of Fin-
'^las, at that time the prei>end of Itaster Thomas de Castello, who
was nominated by him the first chancellor of that establishment,
sfrom which period to the seventeenth century this church con-
'^ued to be the chancellor's prebend.

' In 1235 the priory or rather cell of Casdekoock, for such It
cwa% dependant upon the priory of little Malvern, contested With
•the canons of St. Patrick's the tithes of the land lying between
the river Tolka and the farm of Finglas, which, they alleged be-
i6tiged to the parUi of Castleknbok. The matter was compro-
mised on the interference of the Archbishop, and with the consent
^ the Prior of liule Malvern.* For a notice in 1227, see the
i^* Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dublin/*

In 1240 Archbishop Luke confirmed to Chriet Chutch 60a.
of land near Finglas, and aftioiit the same time granted te<<the
men of Finglas" 138a. and three stangs of land as surveyed, and
stated to be held in freehold under the see, at the yearly rent of
S4 14r. 7d. and certain dues of wai.

In 1271 Fnlk de Sandford, Archbishop of DobKn, died in his
manor of Finglas, and was buried in the diapel of the Blessed Vir-
gin in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

In ld26 an inquisition was taken as to the extent of the manor
<^ Finglas. At the close of this century a bnmdi of the Barrett
iuaily was settled here.

In 1860 John de KarkU, clerk, had leave to absent htmsetf
^om Ireland, and receive, notwithstanding, the full revenues of
the chancellorship of St. Patrick's, and the prebend of Finglas
annexed, the prebend of Slievecolter in the cathedral of Ferns,
the prebend of 0%n in the cathedral of Limerick, the wwdship
and marrii^ of Ralph the son of Maurice, Baron of Bnrnchurol^
the farming of the deanery of Dublin, and of the prebend of Crofr^
patridcy with the church of Rosclare and the chapelry of Bally-
more annexed*! No small accumulation of church preferments*
For a notice in 1403, see ante at << Portane."

In 1416 the celebrated hero John Talbot, Lord Furnival,

• Dign. Dec I 22, &c.

t Rot. Pat. in Cane. Hib.

376

COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Lord Justice of Ireland, h^ a residence liere, where; in thd same
year, he << had a son bom unto hiniy who, on the day of St. Law-
rence the martyr, departed this life, and was buried in the choir
of the Friars' Preachers Church in Dublin."*

In 1511 Walter Fitzsimons, Archbishop of Dublin, afterwards
Lord Chancellor and Deputy Lieutenant of Ireland, died here,t
and was honourably interred in the nave of St. Patrick's Cathe-
dral. Soon afterwards the Repertorium Viride of Archbishop
Allen states Finglas, to be a prebend annexed to the chancellor-
ship of St. Patrick's.

An inquisition of 1547 defines the extent and value of the
rectory of Finglas, its demesne lands, fortress, &c«

In 1567 the Reverend Samuel Mason, a Roman Catholic cler-
gyman, who had previously read his recantation in Christ Church
before Sir Henry Sydney, was preferred to this living by Arch-
bishop Loftns. He died in 1566, and was buried in this church-
yard.

In 1577 Nicholas Dillon of Cappock died seised of 120a. in
Finglas.} The rectory was subsequently held by Archbishop
Loftus, in commendam, until in 1611 he conferred it on James
Usher, with the chancellorship of St. Patrick's, notwithstanding
that the right of presentation to Finglas devolved upon the kii^,
jure devoluto and by reason of his royal prerogative, on account
of the vacancy occurring during the said commendam.§ The re-
gal visitation of 1615 also states thb church to be of the cofps of
the chancellorship of St. Patrick's, that James Usher was then its
rector, and Matthew Lee curate, and that the church and chan-
cel were in good repur.

In 1621 a vicar was endowed at Finglas by the cel^rated
James Usher, at that time chancellor of St. Patrick's Cathedral,
who resigned the castle, the glebe, and an adequate portion of the
tithes, to serve as a maintenance for him and his successors*

In 1622 the king presented Jenkin Mayes to the deanery of

• Marleburgb*8 Chronicle.

t Borlase's Reduction of Ireland, p. 92.

t Inqub. in Cane. Hib.

$ Rot Pat. in Cane Hib.

FINGLAS.

377

S{. Canice, with the chancellorship of St. Patrick's, Dublin, and
the rectory of Finglas.

In 1641 a party of the confederates of the Pale, stationed here,
%as attacked and beaten by Colonel Crawford.

In 1649, while the Marquis of Ormond was encamped here,
previous to the fatal action at Rathmines, he received intelligence
that Jones had detached most of his horse to Drogheda» a move-
ment which, by cutting off his provisions, would have reduced his
army to extreme distress. Lord Inchequin was thereupon in-
stantly sent in pursuit of them with a strong body of cavalry;, he
surprised and routed the party, laid siege to Drogheda, and soon
compelled its surrender. Having further intelligence of a body
of horse and foot employed to escort some ammunition to Owen
CNeiU, he attacked and routed the horse, cut off the infantry,
invested Dundalk, which Monk was forced by his own soldiers to
surrender, and, having reduced some less considerable garrisons^
teturned triumphantly to the camp at Finglas. Hence it was,
that, in the confidence generated by these successes, on the 18th
of July, a fortnight before his utter defeat at Rathmines, he
wrote to the king a letter, wherein, alluding to his projected attack
on Dublin, he said, << that which only threatens any rub to our
success is our wants, which have been and are such, that soldiers
have actually starved by their arms, and many of less constancy
have run home ; many of the foot are weak, yet I despair not to
be able to keep them together and strong enough to reduce
Dublin, if good supplies of all sorts come not speedily to relieve it.
I am confident I can persuade one-half of this army to starve out-
right, and I shall venture far upon it, rather than give up a game
so fair on our side and so hard to be recovered if given over."*
In the same year, when Cromwell's army was proceeding to the
siege of Drogheda, they passed through Finghis, and it is reported
that, according to their iconoclast principle, when they saw the
ancient cross here, they overturned it and cast it into a pit, where
it remained buried, until a fortuitous circumstance brought it again
to light in 1816.

A return of 1660 defines the extent of this parish and its

Carte's Orig. Pap. vol. ii. p. 389.

378 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

tithes. In 1666 J(^n Arthur died seised of 24^. here> iwfbidi he
held of the king in free and common soccage. In the same year
Sir Timothy Tyrrel had a grant of all the interest of William
Hewlett, attainted, (whidi was saved to said Sir Timothy by the
Act of Settlement,) in certain lands in the parish of Finglas, &c.
bounded on the north by the town of Finglas; on the east by
DiUon*s and Sir Robert Perth's lands; on the south by the Wood
of Finglas; and on the west by Solomon's Field, Lord's Leisure,
and the twenty acres in Phillips's holding, containing in all 79ai
Sb., SOp., subject to a certain rent which has never been paid, while,
on the expiration of Hewlett's interest which was for years, the lands
should have reverted to the original proprietors. Sir Timothy
was also seised of twenty acres in the << Much Green" of Finglas,
which he held under the See of Dublin. In the same year the
Archbishop of Dublin had a grant of ten acres plantation measure
here, with various other townlands in augmentation of his see.

At Finglas Wood, near the Tolka, is a house now occupied
by Mr. Savage, one of the many where tradition says King James
slept on the night of his retreat from the Boyne. King William
afterwards encamped here, and hence ** On Sunday, the 6th of
July," says Story, " he made his triumphant entry into Dublin
from his camp, and proceeded to St. Patrick's Cathedral, attended
by the bishops, where he heard prayers and a sermon, preached
by Dean King, on the power and wisdom of the providence of
God in protecting his people and defeating their enemies ; he
afterwards returned to the camp to dinner." On the 7th and
8th of July he reviewed his forces on horseback, << seeing each
regiment march by him, inquiring the officers' names, and what
other things concerning them he thought fit ; the commissaries
taking an exact list of all the private men, both horse and foot,
that i^peared in the ranks, when the numbers were calculated as
22,579 foot, 7,751 horse, and 483 officers."

In 1694 the king presented Dillon Ashe to the vicarage of
Finglas. In 1697 the Reverend Bartholomew Scally was returned
as Parish Priest of Finglas, St. Margaret's, and the Ward* About
the same time Sir Daniel Bellingham, first Lord Mayor of the
City of Dublin, granted lands in this parish, then of the value of
about £60 per annum, and in 1764 considered worth £200 per

FINOLAS.

379

annuiDy for the relief of poor debtors in the city and four-courts
marshalseasi and Tested the same in the clerk of the crown, and
one of the six clerks in chancery as trustees for that purpose.
This laudable object, however, was never enforcedi and the heirs
of the trustees have appropriated the property.

In 1710 the celebrated Joseph AdcUson, then Secretary of
State in Ireland, wrote to Dean Swift : << I am now just come
from Finglas, where I have been drinking your health, and talking
of you with one who loves and admires you better than any man
in the world, except your humble servant." The passage is only
cited to shew how firmly that good man, in his official situation,
refused to resign his acquaintainceship with the Dean, and continued
to him his accustomed friendship throughout all the storms of
political revolution.

In 1716 the celebrated Thomas Parnel was vicar of Finglasi
<* This preferment," says Mr, Brewer, « should have been pecu-.
liarly desirable from its contiguity, as a place of residence, to Glas-
nevin, the favoured abode and resort of his literary friends ; but
Pamd removed to Fioglas in the clouded evening of his brief
life, and brooded in his retirement over the agonies of a breaking,
heart."

In 1722 the king presented Robert Howard to this vicarage,
with the precentorship of Christ Church pro hdc vice. In 1726
James Stopford obtained this vicarage on the same presenlatioui
and was himself succeded in 1754 by Robert Caulfield.

In 1769 Charles Davis bequeathed £6 per annum to the cha?
rity school here, and the residue of his property to the charter
school corporation.

In 1810 Charles Frizell, Esq. of HoUes-street, Dublin, be-
queathed £200, in trust to apply the interest annually for the
poor of this parish, towards buying bread to be distributed every
Sunday by the minister and churchwardens. Lands were also
left at a more remote period for charitable purposes here, but of
which no account can now be attained.

At Finglas, in the botanic department, may be
found scandix pecten Veneris^ shepherd's needle;
hunium flexuosum^ pig-wort j stum nodiflorum^ pro-

380

COUNtY OP DUBLIN.

4 '

cumbent water parsnip ; heraclevm sphondylium^
cow parsnip ; narcissics Uflorus^ pale narcissus ;
allium vineale, crow garlic, which communicates a
rank taste to milk and butter ; rumex acetoselkh
sheep's sorrel ; colchicum autumnale^ meadow saffron,
whose roots are poisonous ; hordeum pratense^ mea-
dow barley; scabiosa sticcisa, devil's bit scabious;
gallium verum, yellow bedstraw, witli which the best
Cheshire cheese is said to be prepared; mt/osotis
nrvensis, field scorpion grass ; primula elatior^ ox-
lip ; primula veris^ cowslip ; lysim/ichia nemorumy
yellow pimpernel ; anagallis arvensis^ common scarlet
pimpernel ; convolvulus sepium^ great bind-weed ;
viola tricolor 9 pansy violet ; chenopodium bonus Hen-
rictiSf mercury goosefoot ; chenopodium album, white
goosefoot ; spircBa ulmaria, meadow sweet, yielding
certainly a sweet but an oppressive fragrance ; rosa
arvensis, white trailing dog-rose ; ruhtis corj/li/olius,
hazel-leaved bramble ; papaver dubium, long smooth*,
headed poppy; tfdaspi arvense, penny cress; senebiera
coronopuSf swine's cress; cardamine hirsuta, hairy
ladies' smock ; raphanus raphanistrum, wild radish ;
geranium Pt/renatcum, mountain crane's bill ; ulea;
SuropcBics, common furze ; lotus corniculatuSf com-
mon bird's-foot trefoil ; senecio tenui/olius, hoary
ragwort ; euphorbia peplus, petty spurge ; euphorbia
exigua, dwarf spurge ; alchemilla vulgaris, ladies'
mantle.

On the ditches, banks, and road sides, epilobium
hirsutum, great hairy willow herb ; polygonum per-
stearin, spotted persicaria ; stellaria uliginosa, bog

F1NGLAS«

381

stichwort ; sanicula Europcea, wood sanicle, which in
ancient pharmacy was supposed to possess the qualities
of the balsam of Fierabras, and was used in '< potions
which are called vulnerary potions, or wound drinks,
which make whole and sound all inward wounds and
outward hurts :" experience, however, has impaired its
ancient credit ; viola odorata, sweet violet ; torilis
anthriscus, upright hedge parsley ; ranunciUus flafn*
mulaj lesser spearwort crowfoot; mentha hirmta^
hairy mint ; hedysarum onohrichis^ saintfom ; orchu
pt/ramidaltSf pyramidal orchis ; scolopendrium vulr
gare, common hart*s-tongue ; centaurea nigra^ black
knapweed ; arum inaculatum^ cuckow pint. — In the
hedges and woods, solafivm dulcamara^ woody night-
shade, bitter sweet j polygonum convolvtUus, black
bindweed ; pyrus melius, wild apple-tree ; rtibtes
glandulosttSi glandular bramble ; stachys sylvaticay
hedge woundwort ; geranium Robertianum^ herb
Robert ; vicia septum^ common bush- vetch ; bromus
erectus, upright brome grass, whose seeds are a fa-
vourite food with pheasants. — On old walls, glyceria
rigidoj hard sweet grass ; parietaria officinalis, wall
pellitory; hedera helix, ivy; cheirantlms Jruticulo^
8US, wall-flower ; sedum reflexum, crooked yellow
stone crop.

In the quarry-holes, daucus carota, wild carrot ;
pastinaca saliva, wild parsnip ; chlora perfoliata,
perfoliate yellow-wort j geranium dissectum,jvigged'
leaved crane's bill ; cfiara vulgaris, common chara ;
agrostis vulgaris, fine bent grass, with its pale green
leaves and highly coloured flowers ; scabiosa arvensis.

382 COUNTY OF DUBLIN,

field scabious ; potamogetan pusilhim, small pond-*
weed ; lithospermum officinale j common gromwell ;
convolvtilus arvensis, small bindweed ; polygala vul-
garis, milk-wort; anthyUis vulneraria^ kidney-vetch;
lathyrtis pratensis, yellow meadow vetchling ; vicia
cracca^ tufted vetch j trifolium officinale, melilot, an
injurious plant in com fields ; hypericum perforatum,
perforated St. John's wort ; apargia 'hirta, deficient
hawkbit; apargia atUumnaJis, autumnal hawkbit;
hieracium piloseUa, common mouse-ear hawkweed ;
carduris acanthoides, welted thistle ; carlina vulgaris,
common carline thistle ; sparganium simplex, un-
branched bur-reed ; erigeron acre, blue flea-bane ;
tussilago farfara, colt's foot ; centaurea scabiosa^
greater knapweed ; typha latifolia, great reed mace,
whose roots are sometimes eaten in salads, while the
down of the amentum is used to stuff cushions and
mattresses, and with the leaves the Swedish coopers
bind the hoops of their casks.

In the neighbouring rivulets and streams, angelica
syhedris, wild angelica. — ^In the moist fields and
marshy grounds, lychnis flos cuculi, ragged Robin ;
sium angustifolium, narrow-leaved water parsnip;
hypericum quadrangulum, square St. John's wort ;
hypericum perforatum, perforated St. John s wort.—
t In the waste grounds, reseda luteola, yellow weed ;

y lamiztm album, white dead nettle ; lamium amplexi*

l-j caule, henbit dead nettle ; cochlearia armmacea^

^ horse radish ; hrassica napus, rape ; geranium ro-

|i tundifolium, round-leaved crane's bill ; fumaria offir

cinalis, common fumitory ; fumaria capreolata.

DUBBEB«

383

climbing fumitory ; trifoUum filiforme^ slender yel-
low trefoil; carduus acanthoides^ welted thistle;
gnaphaJium germanicum^ common cudweed ; arUhe-
mig cotulay fetid chamomile ; urtica urens, small
nettle ; atriplea; patula^ halbert-leaved orache ; obi-
plex angustifolia, narrow-leaved orache ; crepis tec-
torum^ smooth hawk*s-beard. — In the shady places^
glechoma hederacedy ground ivy. — In the meadows,
orchis maeulata, spotted palmate orchis : and in the
com fields, galeopsis tetrahit^ common hemp-nettle ;
brassica campestrisy wild naven ; sinapis arvensis,
wild mustard ; sinapis alba^ white mustard ; chrysan-
themum segetumf com marigold.

Proceeding up the hill on the Ashbourne road,
out of Finglas, an interesting retrospective view ex-
hibits the little village straggling down into the valley,
the May-pole, round which so many happy groups
have frolicked, beyond it the metropolis, now invested
with the completion of St. Patrick's prophecy, and, in
the remote perspective, the mountains of Dublin and
Wicklow. The present road thence is dreary into
Ashbourne. A turn, however, at right leads by the
legitimate old winding highway to the Red Lion, a
locality, which from its name was, it may be pre-
sumed, the dernier resort in former times of perilous
travel, for those who found themselves at even-fall
too near the Santry woods. At right of Red Lion is
the townland of

DUBBER,
Which in 1478 wm discharged from all subsidies to the state,

ivi

S84 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

jOn the petition of the abbot of St. Mary's abbey,* who appear*
by inquisition of 1550, to have been seised of a messuage with a
dove-house, garden, haggard, ninety-eight acres of land, and an
ash-grove therein. The tithes of Dubber were subsequently
farmed out by the Lords Lieutenant as part of the royal revenue.
For a notice in 1582, see '' Dunsoghly." In 1611 Sir Chris-
topher Plunkett passed patent for the temporal land in Dubber,
one castle, six messuages, and eighty acres, ten acres near Finglas-
Bridge in St. Canice's parish, all the lands in Balrothery Late in
the tenure of John Savage, deceased, &c"f

A Wide plain extends at left between this road
and the Dublin mountains, and presently, before en-
.tering St. Margaret's, appears at left, on a road which
crosses the Ashbourne highway and leads to Mal-
laghiddart, the fine old castle of

DUNSOOHLY,

an extensive central square, with four projecting
square, angular towers, one occupied by winding
stairs, the others carved into small apartments, the
.windows being all square and spacious.

On entering the central part, a large vaulted
kitchen presents itself, into which a comparatively
jnodem entrance has been quarried, a flight of twenty-
three steps leads thence to the drawing-room, a spa-
cious wainscotted apartment, with some old family
portraits surrounding the walls, powerfully reminding
the spectator of the time, when the spirit of mirth
presided in that baronial apartment, when the fire
roared through the tunnel of its chimney, and the

• King's MSS. p. 378. t Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

DUNSOQHLY.

385

strong ales and the Gascon wines were lavishly dis-
pensed, while noble gentlemen, long since departed
from the stage, and many, whose names have been trans-
mitted with the associations of historic interest, sported
with their ladies-loves, and the harper alternately won
tieir willing ears to songs of bold achievement, or
the lighter gaiety of dancing measures. A flight of
twenty-one fine stone steps conducts thence to the se-
cond floor, and a third of twenty-three steps to where
the third floor should be, but it has been removed,
while, above it a further flight of ten steps ascends to
a watch-tower springing from the roof. The view
thence is inconceivably extensive. The church of
Screen, the mill of Garristown, the hills of Mulla-
how, Hollywood, the Man of War, the castle of Bal-
dungan, the shores and vicinity of Lough Shinny,
Lambay, Ireland's Eye, Howth, Bray-head, the Sugar
Loafs, the Dublin mountains, the plains of Kildare
succeed in the circuit of the extensive panorama,
while, in the intermediate and inner scope, St. Mar-
garet's and its ruins, Santry and its woods, Dublin
enveloped in haze, and other innumerable objects
present themselves. The ^^ dun" in this denomina-
tion evinces, by the undying memorial of a name,
that a fortress existed here, in times of even more re-
mote antiquity than the settlement of the Plunketts
upon it. The present castle is the property of Mrs.
Kavanagh, one of the descendants and co-heiresses of
Sir John Flunkett. Adjoining it is the old family
chapel, a small edifice with an old arched doorway,
over which a curious slab is inserted, representing

386

COUNTS OF DUBUN.

the Cross, ladder, nails, ropes, and other accompani-
ments of the Crucifixion, admirably carved in alto-
relievo, and below them the letters, " J. P. M. D.
D. S. (i. e. Joannes Plunkett Miles de Dun-Soghly),
1673."

In 1422 the King granted to Henry Stanyhurst, the custody
of all the messuages &c., which had belonged to John Finglas of
Dunsoghly, in the counties of Dublin or Meath, to hold during
the minority of the heir of said John, rent free.*

In 1424 Roger Finglas was relieved from all arrears of crown
rent, due by him out of the lands and tenements of Dunsoghly
and Oughtermoy.'f Soon afterwards, this place passed into the
possession of Sir Rowland Plunkett, the youngest son of Sir
Christopher Plunkett, Baron of Killeen, and Lord Deputy of Ire-
land in 1432.

In 1446 Sir Rowland Plunkett of Dunsoghly Castle, was ap-
pointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and, at the commence-
ment of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, his son Sir Thomas
Plunkett was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. la
1559 Sir John Plunkett of Dunsoghly, the grandson of this Sir
Thomas, was Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, and died in
1582 seised of the manors of Dunsoghly and Oughtermoy, 120
acres ; eighty acres in Harristown, Corbally, Donore, and Merry-
gall ; eighty acres in Dubber ; twenty acres in Porterstown ;
thirty acres in Balrothery and Fowkestown, kc.X He held the
manors of Dunsoghly and Oughtermoy from the Archbishop of
Dublin by fealty.

In 1641 Colonel Richard Plunkett of Dunsoghly, was an
active adherent of the lords of the Pale, and one of those for
whose head the Lords Justices and Council offered a reward of
£400. In 1666 the House of Commons, taking into consideration
" the great sufferings of Sir Henry Tichboume by the late rebel-
lion, and his many great services," and considering that by the

• Rot in Dom. Cap. Westm.
\ Inquis. in Cane. Hib,

t lb.

6T. MAEGARBT's.

367

act for taking away the Court of Wards aod Liveries, the said
Sir Henry was deprived of the benefit of the wardship of Nidiolas
Plunkett of Dunsoghly, " which was given him by his late majesty,
towards a compensation for his losses by and services agunst the
said rebels, for which wardship he gave a considerable fine to his
majesty, and underwent other expenses concerning the same i" the
CoDUDonSy therefore, voted him a sum of £2000 as a gift in lieu
of the said wardship, &c., same to be paid out of the revenue of
hearth-money. This Nicholas (it is said) was the author of « A
faithful History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in Ireland, from its
beginning in the year 1641 to its conclusion, with an introductory
accomat of the true state and condkion of that kingdom before the
year 1641, and the most material passages and actions which since
that time hath contributed to the calamities it hath undergone,''
a work which was long preserved in manuscript by his posterity.
From him descended the last Nicholas Plunkett of Dunsoghly,
whose estates, on failure of hb male issue, were divided amongst
his three daughters, Mrs. Grace of Gracefieldt Mrs. Malone of
Pallas Park, and Mrs. Donne of Brittas.

Near the ruins of Dunsoghly the botanist wiH
find, festuca loUacea, spiked fescue grass, a grass
which, it is to be remarked, rarely perfects its seed,
and whose cultivation is consequently inconvenient
and expensive ; silene injlata, bladder catchfly. The
natives of Zante eat the boiled leaves of this plant,
which are said to partake of the flavour of green
peas. — In an adjoining moor is found, cenanthe pheU
landrium, fine-leaved water dropwort j and, on the
way sides, silene nutans^ Nottingham catchfly.

ST. Margaret's

next invites attention, with the ruins of the old church,
which was dedicated to the saint who gives name to

2c2

388 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

the village, and was anciently dependant on the church
of Finglas. These ruins, en wrapt in ivy, are not un-
interesting, while near them is a fine mausoleum,
erected in 1746, for Andrew Morgan and his poste-
rity. His armorials appear in front, in white marble,
over the entrance, with the motto, " Regalis et fortis
quamvis eradicata viresco," under which is a slab
charged with deaths' heads and cross-bones, — angels,
with the trumpet of resurrection, hour-glasses, deaths
with scythes, &c. Immediately attached to the church
is a small chapel, now unroofed, built by Sir John
Plunkett (before-mentioned at Dunsoghly), in the
reign of Elizabeth, as a cemetery for his family. The
architecture of this chapel is mean, though it presents
a Gothic arched door, with a canopy supported by
corbel heads, and a number of rude pinnacles and
small crosses disposed like a battlement on the top of
the wall. Over the doorway is a square tablet with
: the inscription, <' Joannes Plunkett de Dunsoghlia

Miles, Capitalis quondam Justiciarius Regii in Hi-
bernia banci, hoc struxit sacellum." There is a slab
inside which records the time of his decease. From
this little chapel grows out, like a transept, a smaller
burial-place, now tenanted by a lonely elder tree.

These small chapels were more usually styled
chantries, and were endowed for one or more priests,
on condition of their saying mass and offering prayers
for the soul of the founder, and such of his ancestors
or descendants as he might have prescribed in the grant.
All such gifts, however, and all possessions under
them were rendered illegal in the time of King

ST. MARGARET S.

«89

Edward the Sixth. It may be remarked that Dug-
dale, in his History of St. Paul's Cathedral, mentions
no less than forty-seven chantries as belonging to
that church.

The churchyard of St. Margaret's has no mo-
nument worthy of note, unless perhaps one to the
Hayden family from 1706, and another to that of
Warren from 1722.

In the village, at the head of a very small com-
mon, are situated a plain but commodious Roman
Catholic chapel, and a school in connexion with the
National Board, and receiving therefrom for its support
j£lO annually; near them is the tepid spring formerly
of such repute. It was dedicated to St. Brigid, and
enclosed by the above-named Sir John Plunkett with
a battlemented wall, so as to form a pleasant bath
six yards long and three broad, still in good preser-
vation ; but fashion no longer acknowledges " the
charms that sages had seen in its face ;" and, although
it is pleased to continue the sparkling ebullitions
of its medical munificence, the ^quantum sufficiV
of mouths is no longer there to receive them. The
temperature of this water is very low, being colder
than the air in summer, but perceptibly warmer in
winter, when it raises the thermometer to ST. It is
said to contain lime, muriate of soda, nitrate of kali,
and sulphur, but the latter in a much smaller pro-
portion; a steam rises from it in the winter, and it
has never been known to freeze.

The parish of St. Margaret's extends over 2,400a.
3r. 5p., and was returned in 1831 as containing a

390 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

population of 325 persons. In the Protestant e^:ab'
lisbment it is a chapelry in the corps of the Chan-
cellor of St. Patrick's; in the Catholic it is in the
Union of Finglas. It was more anciently called the
parish of Donaghnor or Dowanor. Rent here varies
from £2 to £3 10^. per acre.

In 1182 Pope Locius confirmed to the Ardibishop of Dublin
the town of St. Margaret's with its appurtenances, while the
diapelry, according to Archbish<^ Allen, continued for a long
time to be a subject of controversy between the saccassive pre**
lates of Dublin and the Prior of the Hospital of St. John without
Newgate.

At the close of the fourteenth century a branch of the Tay«
lor family flourished here.

An inquisition of 1547 finds the extent and value of its tithea^
and that there was also annexed to the rectory a chief rent of
ISs. 4d, yearly, issuing out of 14a. of land in the tenure of John
Punkett near the Church of Dowanor. A return of 1660 defines
the extent of the parish and its tithes, and for a notice in 1697
see an^tf at ^Fmglas."

About a mile and a half beyond St. Margaret's
is the village of

CHAPEL-MIDWAY,

a chapelry in the Deanery of Swords, united with
the vicarage of Killsallaghan, and in the gift of the
king. Its population, according to the census of
1831, was 335 persons. Rent is here about £2 10^.
per annum, wages seven shillings per week.

ThjB church yard crowns a commanding height
over the village, having in its centre the crypted
ruins of the old religious edifice thickly matted over

KILLSALLAOUAN..

391

with ivy, and priesenting at one comer broken traces
of the steps, that once conducted to a chapel above
it. The consecrated ground is bordered by ash trees,
and thickly covered with white thorn, black thorn,
and elder, that cast a deep dark shade on the human
soil from which they spring, as if the garish eye of
day should not intrude upon thi» lonely resting-
place.

ChqielrMidway W9s from very ancient time a chapelrj annexed
to the church of Killsallaghany and 13 so reported in the Rega(
Visitattoa of 1615, which adds that the church was then nearly
ia ruins.

For notices in 1540 and 1613, see at " KillsallBghan." In 1673
the rectories of Chapel-Midway and Killsallaghan were granted
io the Archbiibop of Dublin and his suoces^rs, in trust for the in-
cumbent, subject to the annual rent of jCIO 7^.

A dreary, uninteresting road leads hence to

KILLSALLAGHAN,

where are some remains of a once extensive castle.
A plain, rustic church is also there, without any mo-
nument of note either in it or the surrounding grave-
yards and near it is a glebehouse with a glebe of
tfairty'-two acres. There is also a school here in coin
nexion with the National Board, from which it re-
ceives £10 per annum, the number of its pupils was
106 m 1834.

The parish bears the same name, and, though in*
duded in the obvious course of this excursion, is
wholly situated within the barony of Castleknock.
It comprises 2730a. 3r. 37p.» and ranks as a vicarage

392 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

united with the chapelry of Chapel Midway. In 183 1
its population was returned as 581 persons, of whom
the Protestants were stated as less than forty.

A monastery was founded here at an early age, which subse-
quently became parochial, when the church was dedicated to St.
David, and in 1197, with the consent of Aubert de Lockhart, the
proprietor of the soil, was granted to the canons of the abbey
founded in Dublin in honour of St. Thomas-a-Becket, by whose
community a vicar was endowed there.

In 1200, and subsequently, the family of de la Field were
seised of the lands of Killsallaghan by grant from the crown. See
" Chapelizod,'* in the year 1200. For a notice of the Cruises'
possessions here in 1392, see at <<Merrion." In 1412 Thomas,
the son of Sir John Cruise, was seised of this manor by inheri-
tance, and so transmitted it to his descendants.

In 1 536 Patrick White of Killsallaghan had a grant of the office
of second baron of the exchequer.

In 1537 an inquisition was taken concerning the possesions of
its monastery. In 1539 its church was rated to the First Fruits
at £5 6s,j and in 1540, on the dissolution of monasteries, Henry
Duff, the last abbot of that of St. Thomas, had a grant of a
yearly pension of £42, Irish, chargeable on the tithes of the rec-
tories of Greenock, Killsallaghan, Chapel-Midway, &C., with clause
of distress, while smaller pensions were similarly charged for other
members of that establishment. The lands of Stradbally, in this
parish, then appertained to the religious house of Grace Dieu.

An inquisition of 1612 finds Philip Hoare seised of the castle,
manor, town, and lands of Killsallaghan, containing 300a., exdu*
sive of other adjacent lands, which were so held under the crown
by knight's service. The document further states, that said Philip
Hoare and others, the lords of this manor, had from time imme-
morial held a court baron and a court leet here. All these pre-
mises were surrendered in the same year to the crown by Hoare,
who took out a fresh patent thereof^ and died in 1630 ; they were,
however, forfeited by his heir in the troubles of 1641.

In 1613 Dudley Norton, Esq., Chief Secretary of State for
Ireland, had a grant of the rectories and tithes of Killsallaghan

KILL8ALLAQHAN.

393

and Chapel-Midway, parcel of the estate of the monastery of Tho-
mas Court, and which had been theretofore held under grants
from Queen Elizabeth to Turlough Mac Cabe and Sir Thomas
Masterson. For a notice of Killsallaghan in 1615, see at '< Chapel-
Midway/' and for notices of the exercise of presentation in 1622
and 1625, see at <« Bahothery."

In 1641 this place was the station of Lieutenant General
Byrne, and hither the Earl of Fingal led a party of sixty horse-
men, and was met by Laurence Dowdall of Athlumney, Patrick
Segrave of KiUeglan, Patrick Barnewall of Kilbrew, Sir Richard
Bamewall, Adam Cusack of Trevett, Nicholas Dowdall of Browns-
town, and divers others. Ormond was thereupon commissioned
to drive them from this castle. *< His orders were to bum and de-
stroy their haunts, and to kill all the inhabitants capable of bearing
arms ; but his proceeding was more moderate, nor were these petty
excursions deemed, by military men, sufficiently interesting, when
the gallant forces of Drogheda were surrounded by enemies, and
exposed to the utmost severities of toil and famine.''* He, how-
ever, dislodged his opponents from this position, strengthened as
it was by woods, ditches, barricadoes, and other fastnesses.

In 1661 the king presented Henry Brereton to thb benefice,
and in 1666 Sir George Lane Knight passed patent for the manor,
castle, town, and lands of Killsallaghan, 269a., plantation measure^
together with a windmill, six messuages, a court leet and a court
baron, with 154a., like measure, adjoining thereto. About the
same time Philip Hoare was one of the signers of the Roman Ca-
tholic remonstrance. For an important notice of Killsallaghan in
1673, see at « Chapel-Midway."

In 1680 Daniel Jackson was vicar on royal presentation, and
in 1683 Viscount Lanesbrough died seised of the town and lands
of Castletown and Killsallaghan 569a., in Swords 40a., in Rolles-
town 5a., and a chief rent out of the manor of Westpalstown,
&c.t

In 1697 the Rev. Mr. Scallery was returned as Roman Ca-
thoUc pastor of half this parish, and the Rev. Mr. Murphy of the
other moiety.

* Leland*8 Hist, of Ireland.

t Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

394 COUNTY OP DUBLX^N.

Id 1709 the vicarage was filled by Charles Smyth, who was
succeeded in 1715 by Peter Wybraiits» and he in 1732 by Ed-
ward Leigh, all on royal presentation* The latter h^ in 1735 a
grapt, from James Bennett, of ten acres of glebe in Stradbaliy
within this parish.

In 1758 the king promoted Philip Yorke to this vicarage, who
was succeeded in 1768 by Edward Day, he by Henry Parish in
1770, he by Maurice CoUis in the same yeaj:^ ColUs by Richard
Straubenee Wolfe in 1801, Wolfe by Thomas Honry Kearney
in 1808, he by Charies Milley Doyle in 1806, and his successors
bane been Mr# Gregg and Mr. Perrin the present incumbent.
; In 1810 the Board of First Fruits lent £768 for the erectioi^
ol the church here.

A beautifully shaded road leads hence to

FIELDSTOWN,

where is a sweet seat of Mr. Bourne, intersected by
a pretty rivulet, and on every side surrounded by
the shadiest hedged roads. In this demesne is a
burial ground and some traces of the ancient chapeU

This edifice was, at a very early age, dedicated to St. Cathe-
rine, the Virgin and Martyr, and was subservient to the church of
Clonmethan.

The history of St. Catherine states that she was born at Alex?
andria, and endowed with such a capacity, that in the year 305
she disputed with fifty heathen philosophers, all of whom she
converted to the true faith. For this offence the Emperor Max-
entius caused her to be cast into prison ; but, being visited there
by the empress and one of the principal generals of Maxentius^
she converted them also, whereupon the emperor was so enraged',
that he ordered her to be tortured with four cutting wheels, in
which were saws of iron, sharp nails, and sharp knives; the wheels
turned one against another, and thus the saws, knives, and nails
met. She was so tied to one of the wheels, that the other being

PIELDSTOWN. 395

turned the cooiriury way, her body might be tern in different
places with the sharp instruments; she was afterwards beheaded.
The Catherine wheel used for artificial fire works, derived its
name from the instrument of her martyrdom, beside which she is
usually represented as standing. St. Catherine being esteemed
the patroness of learned men, her image is frequently to be seen
in the Hbraries of the ancients. Her festival is observed on the
Sdtb of Novemb^*

In the year 1200 and subsequentfyy this locality was the estate
«f the fiunily of de la Field, from whom it derives its name.

In 1821 Nicholas DowdaU, prebendary of Clonmethan, in a
petition prefeorred by him to parliament, stated, << that diveis per^
sons, aliens, strangerSi and denixens, did frequent in considerable
numbers, by way of pilgrimage, the chapel of St. Catherine the
Virgin and Martyr of Fieldstown, which was impropriated and
.annexed to the prebend of Qonmethan, being for the health and
safety of their souls, and accomplishment of their petitions and
prayers: and those persona he complained had been repeatedly
vexed aad molested on divers pretences, by reason of which they
were obliged to lay aside said devotions and pi^rimages.'^ Paip-
liament accordingly ordained that the persons and properties of
'liU such piignms should, during their pilgrimage, be under the
protection of the king, and that no such person should be arrested
on any writ or authority whatever, for debt, treason, felony, or
trespass, until said pilgrimage should be accomplbhed ; provided
that during their going thither, dwelling there, and returning, they
did behave peaceably to the king's liege subjects. It was also
ordained, that any officer who should vex or arrest the person^
or molest the houses of such pilgrims contrary to the stiKtuie,
should forfeit for every such offence the sum of £20.* These
patrons, however, subsequently rather inducing superstition than
religion, and leading in licentiousness and riot were very com-
mendably suppressed.

In 1479 this property passed from the old proprietors, the de
la Fields, to Sir Richard BarnewaD, ancestor of the Viscounte
Klngsland, on his marriage with Catherine de la Field. To his

• Statute Roll, i4Bdw. IV.

396

COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

son Patrick Barnewall of Fieldstown, the Prior of the Abbey of
Louth granted a pension in 1539 of 13f. 4^. during his life for
his good services; while the Prior of Great Connal in the county
of Kildare, gave him an annuity of 40«. for his good counsel given
and to be given. A considerable portion of this townland re-
mained in the Barnewall family to a very recent date.

In 1535 Patrick Barnewall of Fieldstown had a grant of the
office of sergeant-at-law and solicitor general ; and, in the Act
of Absentees passed in 1537, there is a special clause that nothing
therein should be hurtful or prejudicial to Patrick Barnewall of
Fieldstown, his heirs, &c. in respect to certain lands, which he
held of << the monastery of the Blessed Lady of Carmel."

An inquisition of 1546 states the tithes of Fieldstown chapelry
as payable to the prebendary of Clonraethan, out of the townland
of Fieldstown, being of the yearly value of £4 Os. 4d. besides al-
tarages, and £3 6s. Sd, annually arising out of the chapel, assigned
to the curate there for his stipend.

The regal visitation of 1615 reports the church of Fieldstown
impropriate, and the curacy annexed to the church of Clonmethan.
For a notice of Lord Howth's possessions here in 1619, see at
" Howth," and of the Bamewalls in 1685, see at " Turvey." Of
the canal projected from Malahide hither, see antey « Malahide,"
at 1788.

The Family of de la Field,

still indissolubly identified with this locality, notwithstanding their
total estrangement from its possession, were originally derived
from Alsace, and long resided in the chateau that bears their name,
situated in a pass of the Vosges mountains, about three days' journey
from Colmar. They were also lords of considerable possessions in
Lorraine. The ruins of their castle and its chapel yet remain, and
afford a picturesque but melancholy memorial of the splendour of
the Counts of la Field, as styled by du Chesne, who records the
tributes they claimed, the retinue and hospitality they maintained,
as well as the difficulties they encountered in the early wars of
Germany and France, notwithstanding the assistance they received

THE FAMILY OP DE LA FIELD. 397

from the £&rls of Flanders, and the house of Hapeburg, to both
of which they were allied by marriage :

** La croiz d*or de la Feld luisant parmi les.
En courageuz defi lances des ann^s de la France.**

A cadet of this noble line came over to England about the
time of the Conqueror, and, accordingly, Hubert de la Field is
recorded as a tenant in capite in Buckinghamshire, in the third
year of the reign of that monarch, as is also John de la Field in
1109. King John early in his reign granted a considerable estate
at Streatham in Surrey, which had been the property of Peter
'< Feald," to William de Rivers, Earl of Devonshire, and in 1253
John de la Feld intermarried with Elizabeth Fitzwarine,from which
marriage descended the de la Felds of Field Place in Sussex, as
also the de la Felds of the above locality of Fieldstown, and in
right of which marriage, the head of thb sept now claims the title
of Fitzwarine as a barony in fee. About the year 1270^Ralph de
Feld granted six acres in Botlowe (Gloucestershire), to the abbey
of Flaxley, while other members of the family were, at the same
time, settled in Hertfordshire and Kent. In 1299 Adam de la
Field was one of the king's valets on service in the castle of Lough-
maban and in the king's army, for which he received for himself
and his '< mailed" horse, an allowance of twelve pence per day.
About the same period, Reginald de la Field was a landed pro-
prietor in the palatinate of Meath. In 1315 Robert de la Feld was
keeper of the tallies under the Earl of Warwick.

In 1344 John, the son of John de la Field, was seised of the
manor of Skidow in the county of Dublin, and in 1359, was one
of the three appointed to assess and collect a subsidy over that
county. In 1373 the sheriff thereof was directed to summon this
John de la Field amongst others, the chief men of the county, to
a great council. In 1385 the king, in consideration of the great
expense which Alexander, Bishop of Ossory, had, while Treasurer
of Ireland, incurred in Munster and elsewhere, granted to him the
custody of the estates of John, the son of John de la Field, de-
ceased, to hold same during the minority of said John's brother
and heir, Richard de la Field. In 1389 Michael de la Felde was
Vicar of St. Mary's church of Callan, and Dean of St. Canice's

398 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

cathedral, Kilkenny ; and in 1390 Richard Field was installed one
of the canons of the ft'ee diapel in Windsor.

In 1402 Thomas Felde, merchant of Salisbury, petitioned the
English parliament, stating that he had been plundered of various
goods and merchandise by the French on the high sea, and pray-
ing, therefore, letters of marque and reprisal. In the same year
in Ireland, Walter de la Felde was appointed one of four collectors
of a subsidy, granted by the commonalty of the county of Dublin^
ivhile Thomas de la Feld had a ^milar commission in the barony
of Duleek ; John de la Feld was at this time seised of Fieldstown^
which his daughter and heiress Catherine having inherited, passed
with her on her marriage with Richard, the son of John Bame*
wall of Trimlestown, as above-mentioned.

In 1416 John Felde was one of the knights who served under
the Duke of Gloucester, at the battle of Agincourt. In 1454
another of the same name was sheriff of London, became subse-
quently an alderman thereof, and merchant of the staple of Calais.
He died in 1474, and has a fine monument erected to his memory
in the cathedral of Hereford. In 1479 Doctor Field, Warden of
Winchester, was a considerable benefactor to King's College,
Cambridge ; and in 1480 one of this family was Master of Fo-
theringay College, the windows of which he considerably beauti-
fied, as recorded by Camden.

In the commencement of the sixteenth century, Patrick de la
'Field of Painstown intermarried with Elizabeth, the daughter of
Thomas Cusack of Geraldstown, and granddaughter of the sul-
teenth baron of Howth. A branch of the Fields was about the
same time settled at Corduff in the County of Dublin. In 1534
Captain James' de la Field, chief of the sept, was one of the ad-
herents of the unfortunate Thomas Fitz-Gerald, and in his cause
besieged the castle of Dublin ; but the citizens having closed their
gates, and thus cut off his party from communicating with their
friends, some of Field's detachment were fain to escape by
swimming over the river, but the greater number were taken
prisoners.

About the same time a branch of the Fields was planted at
Shipley in Yorkshire ; and at the close of this century flourished
Mr. Field the Puritan, notices of whose writings are preserved in

THE FAMILY OF DE LA FIELD. 399

Collier's Poetical Decameron, as are some of his letters in the
Cottonian Manuscripts. In the celebrated conference of 1603,
between the Presbyterians and the members of the Established
Church, held at Hampton Court before King James, as modera-
tor ; Doctor Field was one of the deputed divines of the latter
side. In consequence of thb meeting, which lasted three days,
a new translation of the Bible was ordered, and some alterations
made in the liturgy. In 1616 died Richard Field, Canon of
Windsor and Dean of Gloucester, he was buried at the former
phice. In 1620 Dr. Field was Bishop of Landaff.

In the seventeenth century James de la Field was possessed of
considerable estates in the County of Monaghan, while members of
the family flourished at Stanstedbury in Hertfordshire, at Ardes-
tow in Yorkshire, at Madley in Herefordshire, at Pagan Hall in
Gloucestershire, at Ashford in Middlesex, as likewise in Hamp-
shire.

In 1664 John de la Field was one of those who petitioned for
a remuneration to Sir Robert Talbot and others, who had been
agents for the Roman Catholic nobility and gentry of Ireland,
such remuneration to be levied off the estates of the restored
Roman Catholics. A branch of the Field family was then settled
in Cork, two of whose descendants, John and Richard Field, were
amongst those att^nted in King James's parliament of 1689, while
another member established himself in Armagh, of which town
John Field was sovereign in 1715, 1720, 1724, 1725, and 1728.

In 1697 John de hi Feld, a descendant of the marriage men-
tioned at 1253, who had entered the imperial service, acquitted
himself with distinguished gallantry at the battle of Zenta in
Hungary, fought by Prince Eugene against the Turks, and was
thereupon created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire. In the
records of the ensuing period, various members of the family are
traced at Islington, at Woodford in Essex, at Kingston-upon-Hull,
at Camden Hill, Kensington, and in Lancashire.

From Fieldstown the course of this excursion en-
ters the parish of

400

COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

KILLOS8ERY,

'ft

Otherwise called Ashbourne-rath, and stated in an
ancient document as comprising the following town-
lands: *

Brazeel . . .
Monat Stewart .
Newtown Brazeel
Leys Brazeel . .
MorganVbush •
Scattemagh . .
Kuockbryan and Dromin

ACRES.

. 100

. 40

. 27

. 50

. 20

ACRB8.

Killossery 60

Rath of Killossery . . .172

Blackhall 40

Rollestown 240

Lispobel 820

Surgotestown 240

Brackdenstown .... 80 Kuockbrvan and Dromin • 17
WiUybush 20

Mention is also made of Caddelstown as appertaining
thereto, but no account is given of its specific con-
tents.

The rectory being appropriated to the dean and
chapter of St. Patrick's, and the tithes to its econo-
my, Killossery ranks as but a curacy in the union
and deanery of Swords, extending, according to the
Trigonometrical Survey, over 2731a. Or. 28p. Its
total population was returned in 1831 as 380 persons,
of whom 374 are stated to be Roman Catholics.—
There is a school in the parish to which the National
Board allows £10 per annum, and which in 1834 was
attended by 121 pupils. The principal lord of the
fee is a Mr. Coote resident in Hampshire.

Within the ivied ruins of its ancient church,
which was dedicated to St. Brigid,^ is a tombstone

• Repertortum Viride.

KILLOSSBRT. 401

commemorative * of the Reverend Philip O^ReiUy,
parish priest of RoUestown in 1789.

For a notice of Killossery and the origin of the name of Ash-
bourne, see at << Pickerstown'' in 1859, and for another notice in
1489, see " Swords" at that year.

An inquisition of 1547 defines the extent and value of the
economy's tithes here, which were in 1565 demised for twenty-
one years, at the annual rent of £13 6s, &d. to Henry Draycot,
as the tithes personal, predial, and mised, of com and hay from
the rectory, &c., of Killossery.

In 1584 Queen Elizabeth granted to EHen and Richard Nu-
gent of ICilkarne, the lands of ICilmore and other denominations
containing 240a., the town of Curragh, and a farm in the Rath
of Killossery 60a., &c., to hold at a certain annual rent.

At the dose of this century Philip Hoare held of George Ca-
dell, as of his manor of Cadellstown, four messuages and one ca-
mcate of land in the town and fields of Killossery, tUias the Rath
of Eallossery, alias Ashboume-rath, annual value, four shillings,
also a water-mill and fulling-mill here,* all which premises said
Philip surrendered to the crown in 1612, and having taken out a
fresh patent thereof, died seised of the same in 1630. His heir
was attainted and outlawed for his politics in 1641, but Philip
Hoare obtained a fresh patent of the same property. For a no-
tice of the Nugent property here in 1611, see at « Cloghran-
Swords."

The regal visitation of 1615 returns this church as then impro-
priate to the economy of St. Patrick's Cathedral. At which time
Robert Barnewall of Dunbroe, held two messuages and 50a. here
from the king, in capite for knight's service.f

In 1641 Thomas Conran forfeited a moiety of Surgotstown,
125a. in thisparishy which he held from the Archbishop of Dublin,
subject to chief rent.}

In 1666 PhHip Hoare passed patent for (inter alia) 123a.,
plantation measure, in the Rath of Killossery, (Uias Ashboume-

• Inquis. in Cane. Hib. t lb. X ^^'

402 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

ratby with two water-mills there, &c. For a notice of its tithes^n
1681, see ante at «< Malahide."

In 1682 Christopher Fagan died seised in tail male of the
small tithes of the Rath of Killossery, therein stated to be in the
Barony of Coolock.* For a notice of the Barnewall possession^
here in 1685, see at « Turvey.** In 1697 Edmund Murphy was
returned as parish priest of Killossery, and resident in Rollestown.

In 1703 Robert Echlin had a grant of 39a., part of the Rath
of Killossery, *<the estate of Richard Fagan attainted,** while
John Asgill passed patent for 158a. in said Rath and in Willy-
bush, " the estate of Martin Dillon, attainted," subject, however,
to certain remainders to the Dillon family.

Hence, crossing a pretty stream, the tourist ar-
is at

rives at

ROLLESTOWN,

a neat, shady village, adjoining the residence of
Mr. Stubbs.

Rollestown and Old-town give their names to the
Roman Catholic union, which comprises the Protestant
parishes of Clonmethan and Palmerstown near Green-
ock, and the greater parts of those of Killossery and
Killsallaghan. There are Catholic chapels both here
and at Old-town. The former is a plain, neat edifice,
adjacent to which is the residence of its rector, sweetly
situated, and commanding, from the back windows,
pleasing views of the ruins at Killsallaghan, the mill and
river of Rollestown, Mr. Stubbs^s improvements, &c.
A pretty trout stream winds through the valley, in
whose water the minnow has become very abundant,
having ascended from the river of Turvey, into which

* Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

CLONMETHAK.

403

Mr. Cobbe of New Bridge caused some of this Welch
bait to be thrown.

For a notice of the see lands of Rollestown in 1403, see at
<< Portrane.'' In the time of Archbishop Allen this locality was
likewbe known by the name of Scacerny.

At the close of the sixteenth century Thomas Belling was seised
of one messuage, and five acres in Rollestown, which he held of
the Archbishop of Dublin by fealty, and in 1683 George Vis-
count Lanesborough died seised of five acres here, which he held
of the king in free and common soccage.*

CLONMETHAN,

the next locality, forms a prebend in St. Patrick s
Cathedral, valued at £638 per annum, and paying
£5 8s. 1^. to the First Fruits. Its rectory and vi-
carage were united in 1675 with the vicarages of Palm-
erstown, Greenock, Westpalstown, Ballymadun, and
Ballyboghill, but Greenock has been latterly severed
from the union. The church here is a small, un-
adorned structure, for the repairs of which the Eccle-
siastical Commissioners have granted £175 4^. lid.
It contains no monuments, nor are there any in the
surrounding graveyard. Near it is the glebe house,
with 55a. of glebe attached to it. In the adjacent
Old-town is a plain Roman Catholic chapel, in the
vestry of which a poor school is kept, which is at-
tended by about forty children.

The parish comprises 3027a., 3r., 19p.> in ten
townlands; the half of this tract belongs to the see of
Dublin. The population of the whole was returned

* Inquis. in Cane Hib.

2d2

404 COUNTY OF DUfitm.

m 1821 as 440, and in 1831 as 677? while a laterre-
port states that there are not ten Protestants in this
QQnsus. Rent here varies from £1 5s. to £2 per
acre*

The church here was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and
was one of the thirteen originally granted to St. Patrick's Cathedral
by the founder. It is called by Allen a sacerdotal prebend, and
16 pkced by him next after St. Audeon's. To it was subservient
the chapel of Fieldstown.

Early in the thirteenth century, the canons of St. Patrick's
Cathedral were engaged in two controversies with the prior and
canons of Lanthony near Gloucester, in reference to the prebend
of Clonmethan. The first concerned the right of burial at Gral-
kgh, which the former claimed as belonging to said prebend,
and the latter as appertaining lo the church -of Holl}'woad, of
which they were rectors. The second difference was about a simi-
lar right to the burials in the chapel of St. James's, Palmerstown
near Greenock, which the canons of St. Patrick's claimed as an
appendage of the prebend of Clonmethan, and the Prior of Lan-
thony as apppertaining to the church of Garristown. Both mat-
ters were submitted to the Metropolitan, who determined in the
former case that the burials of the chapel of Grallagh should
1}elong to the mother cTiurch of Hollywood, but that the vicar
should pay four shillings per annum to the Prebendary of Clon.
methan. In the latter he decided that the chapel of Palmerstown
near Greenock, with its burials, should belong to the church of
Grarristown, but that the prior and convent of Lanthony should pay
to the vicar of that chapel four marks yearly ; the vicar was more-
over to pay a pension of five shillings yearly, at the feast of St.
Michael, to the Prebendn'y of Clonmethan, as a full compensation
for any right he might have to the said burials.*

In 1216 Pope Innocent the Third confirmed to the see of
Dublin, amongst other possessions, Clonmethan with its appurte-
nances. For a notice in 1227, see << Memoirs of the Archbishops
of Dublin."

• Allen's Registry^ f. 196.

CLONMETHAN, 406

In 1306 the prebend was valued at twenty marks, and in 1538
at £28 6#* 8c^. For a notice of Clonmethan in 131 7, see post at
" Lusk.**

In 1414 Thomas Cranlej, Prebendary of Clonmethan, was
«ued for two-third parts of the issues and profits of said prebend
for two years, having been an absentee therefrom^ but, on produo
tion of the king's letters patent licensmg his absence, the claim
was given up.*

In 1475 Nicholas DowdaU, Prebendary of Clonmethan, had
license of absence for eight years to enable him to prosecute his
studies at Oxford* The Begge family were «t this time seised of
certain lands here* See ** Grace Dieu" at 1533.

At the dissolution Nicholas Lyn was Prebendary of Clonmen
than, at which time an inquisition taken stated the possessions of
the prebend as one manse and eight acres of land, value 8f . ; the
tithes of the hamlets of Clonmethan, Old-town, Killeene, Cabragh,
Morton, Jordanstown^ Cotterelstown^ Newinnings, Wyanstown,
and the fifty acres near Morton, worth per annum (exclusive of the
altarages and demesne assigned for the curate at Clonmethan and
repair of the chancel) £17 5j. together with the tithes of Fieldsr
town (exclusive of the altarages and stipend assigned to the
curate.) In 1547 the rectory of Clonmethan was leased to John
Talbot ' of Malahide, and by him assigned to Patrick Barnewallof
Grace-Dieu for twenty-one years at £21 5s. 4d, annual rent.

In 1560 Alexander Craike, Prebendary of Clonmethan and
Dean of St. Patricks, was promoted to the see of Kildare, retain-^
ing, however, the deanery of St. Patrick's therewith, << inasmuch
as the said bishopric as well in spirituals as temporals, by continual
and intolerable oppression of the Irish rebels, is become so small
and poor as to be inefficient for keeping of hospitality, and main-
taining other charges which the ^d bishop b obliged to support."
In 1561 Walter Hill was prebendary. He was abo vicar of Lusk,
and contributed largely towards the repair of that church. In
1564 Robert Daly, who had been prebendary of this place, was
consecrated Bishop of Kildare, and held this prebend with the
Ticarage of Swords in commendaro. The queen's letter of this

• Rot ex Arch, in Dom. Cap. Westm.

406 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

year mentions, that he <' is well commended to her for his good
name and honest living, and the rather becaase he was well able
to preach in the Irish tongue."

The regal visitation book of 1615 states this prebend as of the
yearly value of £35, and that Thomas Richmond was then curate
here. In 1667 the Archbishop of Dublin had a grant of fifty acres
plantation measure here, with various other lands in augmentation
of his see ; and in 1675 the parishes of Clonmethan, Bidmadun,
Palmerstown, Grenogue, Westpalstown, and Ballyboghill, were
united by act of counciL

In 1695 Henry Rider, Bishop of Killaloe, was buried in this
church.

In 1697 the Reverend Edmund Murphy was returned as the
Roman Catholic pastor of this parish, together with those of
Palmerstown, Killsallaghan, and Killester.

In 1716 Archbishop King, by virtue of a power vested in him
by act of parliament, granted to the Prebendary of Clonmethan
and his successors for ever as a glebe for that parish, the following
lands, viz. the five-acre park with garden and cabin adjoining
thereto ; the two-acre park, and four acres and a lulf adjoining
to the five-acre park, and the rest of Begge's land, being eight
acres and a half, all lying near the church of Clonmethad, for
which the incumbent was to pay £1 lOs. yearly to the archbishop.
In 1720 John Grattan, A. M. was installed into this prebend. It
was to him Dean Swift bequeathed the silver box, in which the
freedom of the city of Dublin had been presented to him, and in
which, says the testator, << I desire the said John to keep the
tobacco he usually cheweth called pig-tail.** The dean also no-
minated this Mr. Grattan one of his executors. In the same year
Doctor Harrison built a glebe house here, and obtained a certi-
ficate from the archbishop of having expended thereon £300.

A terrier of 1754 with a map annexed, and lodged in the dio-
cesan registry office, specifies the extent of the rector's glebe here
as 34a. Or. 14p., and his glebe in Ballymadun as 19a. 2r. 5p.
The ecclesiastical report of 1807 notices only the last-mentioned
glebe. There was at that time ho glebe house, but the Board
of First Fruits has since granted £1350 for the erection of one,
and in 1806 further granted £500 for enlarging the church; but

THE BARONY OF BALROTHERT.

407

the parish resisted payment of cess therefore, and the question
being at issue in the courts of law the church remuned unfinished.
The succession of the Prebendaries of Clonmethan was as
follows, as far as can be ascertained : —

1275 de Nottingham.

1402 Thomas de Everdon.
1410 Thomas Crawley.
1475 Nicholas Dowdall.
1546 Nicholas Lyn«
1555 George Browne.
1559 Alexander Craike.
1561 Walter Hill.
1561 Robert Daly.
1615 Nicholas Robinson.
1619 William Pulley.
1628 Richard Powell.
1642 Robert Boyle.
1661 John Brereton.

1683 John Brereton.
1702 Theophilus Harrison.
1720 John GratUn.
1741 Bryan Robinson.
1743 Caleb Cartwright.
1763 Patrick Kenny.
1789 Robert Baylis Dealtry.
1795 Lionel Viscount Strang-

ford.
1801 John Beresford Hill*
1803 Storer Charles Litilehales.
1811 Wilham Hughes.
1813 Thomas Radcliffe.
1835 Montague Leaver Short.

Near Clonmethan is Wyanstown, an estate also
belonging to the see of Dublin.

As the course of this excursion continues hence
to traverse the barony of Balrothery, with the ex-
ception of the locality of Rogerstown which is in
Nethercross, and Lambay accounted in Coolock, a
few words may be here premised concerning

THE BARONY OF BALROTHERY.

This maritime district, according to the survey
and valuation of 1824, comprises fourteen parishes
subdivided into 174 townlands, and has been assessed
to the ancient subsidies as extending over 30,370 arable
acres, and 1699 acres then deemed unprofitable. The

408 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

parishes there assigned to it are Lusk, Hohnpatrick,
Baldungan, Balrothery, Balscadden, Naul, Hollywood,
Gmllagh, Garristown, Ballymadun, Palmerstown,
Westpalstown, Ballyboghill, and Dunabate. In this
scope are twelve small towns and sixteen villages.
The surface of the barony is for the most part level,
and the soil productive, resting almost entirely on
limestone. It is, however, badly supplied with rivers,
and its harbours have not been much improved.
Being the most remote from the metropolis it is prin-
cipally used in tillage.

The quantity of ground forfeited herein in 1641, was returned
as 19,948a. profitable, and 7ddA. unprofitable, while the glebe
lands were stated at the same time as 334a.

Passing out of Clonmethan, the first locality wor-
thy of notice is

DRISHOGUE,

i. e. the brambly district.

One of the manors confirmed by King Henry the Second to
the abbey of the Blessed Virgin, subsequently further assured to
that house by John Earl of Morton in 1185, and which continued
so appropriated down to the time of the dissolution, when, by in-
quisition of 1541, the abbot of that abbey was found seised of two
messuages, 114a. of arable, 4a. of meadow, and 102a. of pasture
here, annual value, besides reprises £4 10«., while a subsequent
inquisition finds John Bathe seised of a messuage and 60a. here,
which he held of the king in capite by knight's service.*

In 1542 Patrick Barnewall had a grant of the monastic pos«»

* Inquis. in Cane. Hib.

LISPOBBL. 409

sessions in Drisfaogue, while for another portion 120a. plantation
measure, James Duke of York passed patent in 1666 ; the latter,,
on his attainder, were in 1703 granted to Marmaduke Coghill,
Esq., while for the former, with a considerable addition. Lord
Kingsland passed fresh patent in 1685.

LI8P0BEL,

the succeeding locality, suggests in its name, i. e. the
fort of the people, that it was the ancient site of an
humbler Areopagus, a justice mount of the Brehon
dispensation, and certainly commands from its high
grounds, a most extensive landscape over the barony
of Balrothery, terminated in mountainous succession
by the heights of Grarristown, MuUahow, the Man of
War, Baldungan with its ruins, Lambay, &c.

Although this place now presents no traces of a religious edi-
fice, it had formerly one of the five chapelries subservient to
Swords*

In 1202 Philip de Nugent gave to the priory of Christ Church
two acres of Lispobel, and in the village of Lispobel half an acre,
adjoining his mansion near the river, on the west side, to build a
house on, with the depasturage of his entire holding there.*

In the sixteenth century, this locality was the property of the
Kynton family, from whom it passed to that of Barnewall, a por-
tion being vested in the Lords of Howth. For a notice in 1619,
see at ** Howth.'^ In 1641 Richard Barnewall of Lispobel was
one of those on whose head the Lords Justices and Council, in
their sanguinary apprabement, set a price of £400. His posses-
sions here were thereupon forfeited, and in 1659 the Protector
demised them with other lands, to Sir John Temple for a term of
fifty-one years.

In 1666 Sir George Rawdon had a grant of the town and lands
of Lispobel 645a. statute measure, Nuttstown 444a., as also of the

• Registry of Christ Church.

410 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

denominations of Weystown and Cordanstown, of which he died
seised in 1684. This grant was made in pursuance of a clause
in the Act of Settlement^ and in consideration of a sum of
£2324 lOs. 4d,f due to him << for provisions and money disbursed
for the use of the army in Ireland."

In 1685 Lord Kingsland passed patent for (inter cUia) the mill
of Lispobel, while in 1691 a recovery was suffered to the use of
the St. Lawrence family of their estates in Lispobel^ Parnellstown,
Effolstown, Balliskadden, Boranston, &c.

A pretty shaded road, with hawthorns at the one
side, and the luxuriant furze at the other, leads hence
back by the course of the river, direct to Rollestown
and Fieldstown. The present line of inquiry, how-
ever, turns to

SKIDOW,

a townland, the fee of Mr. Coote, an absentee.

Its tithes were early appropriated to the economy of St. Pa-
trick's.

In 1844 Skidow was accounted a manor, and is so described
in records of that period, John the son of John de la Field being
then seised thereof.

In 1542 Patrick Bamewall had a grant for ever of Skidow, and
sundry other lands in this vicinity. An inquisition of 1547 ascer-
tained the extent and value of the tithes of this denomination,
which were in 1564 demised by the chapter of St. Patrick's to
Bamaby Scurloghe, ** in consideration of good council to be given
by him during life to the chapter." In 1645 the same tithes were
leased by the chapter to Lord Chief Baron Bysse, and he, being
at that time Recorder, likewise covenanted to give the chapter
« good counsel in matters of law during his life.'' For a notice of
the tithes of Skidow in 1688, see « Killeigh."

In 1685 Lord Kingsland passed patent for (inter cUia) Skidow
and Balgeeth 860 acres.

THE FAMILY OF STANYHURST. 411

COBDUFF,

the next locality on this route worthy of notice, was
anciently a manor of the Ormond family, and for four
centuries the residence of that of Stanyhurst, of whom
the following notices may not seem irrelevant :^-

Thb Family op Stanyhdrst.

In 1418 Henry Stanyhurst of Corduff, was secondary of the
.Exchequer chamber in Irehtnd.

In 1489 Richard Stanyhurst was Lord Mayor of Dublin, as
was Nicholas Stanyhurst in 1542, of which latter Holinshed says,
<< he was so great and good a householder, that during his mayor-
alty the Lord Chancellor of the realm was his daily and ordinary
guest." This Nicholas, it would seem, was the author of some
medical works.

In 1560, according to the learned Doctor John Lynch, Roman
Catholic Archdeacon of Tuam, in his " Cambrensis Eversus,'* the
Statute of Uniformity was carried by the artifice of Mr. Stanyhurst
of Corduff, then Speaker of the House of Commons, who, being
in the reforming interest, privately got together, on a day when
•the house was not to sit, a few such members as he knew to be
favourers of that interest, and passed the bill in the absence of all
those who he believed would give it opposition. This was James
Stanyhurst, Recorder of Dublin, and one of its representatives in
parliament. He was Speaker of the House of Commons in three
parliaments, in 1557, 1560, and 1568, and published his three
<< orations" on these occasions. In 1570, on the re-meeting of the
last parliament, he opened it according to the custom in a ^ech,
whidi Campion has fiilly set forth in his << Histone of Ireland*"
<< In particular," said he on this occasion, << the zeal which I have
to the reformation of this realm, and to breed in the rudest of our
people resolute English hearts, moveth me to pray your lordships'
helping hand for the practice, namely, of one statute which is for
the erecting of grammar-schools within every diocese, the stipends

412 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

to be levied in such proportion as in the Ute act hath been de-
vised, whereunto the royal assent is already granted, and yet, the
point in no forwardness, nor in none is like to be, excepting by
some good means the onset be given, and freshly followed." This
James also proposed and digested a plan for re-establishing and
endowing the College of Dublin. He died in 1573, being then
fifty-one years old. One of his sons, Walter Stanyhurst, translated
into English, « Innocent de contemptu mundi."

About the year 1584 flourished Richard Stanyhurst, the son
of James Stanyhurst, and uncle to Archbishop Usher, his sister
Margaret being that prelate's mother. He received the rudiments
of his education in Ireland, under the celebrated schoolmaster,
Peter White, from whose care he removed in 1563 to Oxford,
where he took one degree, and thence retiring to London, studied
the law in Furnival's, and subsequently in Lincoln's Inn. He
afterwards returned to his own country, where he married and
sojourned some time, but, being desirous of greater liberty in the
enjoyment of his religion, which was Roman Catholic, he went
into the Low Countries, where he acquired great fame for his
learning. Afterwards, on the death of his wife, he took orders,
and being eminent for his parts and learning, was made chaplain
to Albert Archduke of Austria, then Governor of the Spanish
Netherlands, where he died in 1618. During the latter interval
of his life, he held a constant correspondence vnth his nephew,
Archbishop Usher. While a very young man, he wrote " Har-
monia seu catena Dialectica in Porphyrium," which was published
in 1570, and is much commended by Doctor Campion, the Jesuit.
His more celebrated production, << De Rebus in Hibernid Gestis,"
was, with an appendix from Giraldus Cambrensis, and some anno-
tations, published at Antwerp in 1584. Keating animadverts in
strong terms upon this work, and his censures are well merited by
the errors and malicious representations with which it abounds,
seasoned with a few incontrovertible statements, and wilfuUy la-
vished on the calumniated Irish. Some idea of the credibility of
his assertions may be formed, from his calling them an inhospitable
nation, lamenting that their language was not extirpated, and
denying that a country, whose armorial bearing is the harp, had any
knowledge or character of music. Keating observes, that he was

THE FAMILY OF STANYHURST. 413

too young and unacquainted with the Irish language to undertake
such a work, and asserts, that << he was prejudiced with the re*
i^ards and preferments which were promised him to blacken the
nation, but that he lived to repent this injustice, and when he had
entered into holy orders, promised to recant publicly all the false-
hoods he had published, and that he (Keating) was credibly in-
formed that a writing was drawn up for that purpose, in order to
be printed in Ireland/' He further employs some pages in de-
fending Ireland from the vituperations of this writer, not perceiv-
ing that the very style of the book is as injurious to its authority,
as the extravagances of Keating himself have been to the credit of
Insh history. It is, however, but justice to add, that Staiiyhurst's
work contains much valuable information. He also wrote " de
Viti S. Patricii," printed at Antwerp in 1587, and some other
religious works; likewise a translation, in heroic verse, of the first
four books of the ^neid, the first of which he dedicated to ** Peter
Plunkett, the learned Baron of Dunsany,'* whom he styles his
brother. It may be mentioned, as this his translation is most rare,
that the curious inquirer will find sufficient to acquaint him with
its style, in the first volume of Sir E^erton Brydges's " Censura
Literaria.** To this he added translations of the four first psalms,
the first in English iambics, though he confesses that « the iambi-
cal quantity relisheth somewhat unsavourly in our language, being,
in truth, not altogether the toothsomest in the Latin." At the
end of the work is a Latin epitaph by himself on his wife Genet,
daughter of Sir Christopher Barnewall, who died in childbirth at
Knightsbridge, and who was buried at Chelsea. He also wrote in
English, " a Description of Ireland," dedicated to Sir Henry Syd-
ney, then Lord Deputy of Ireland, and published in Holinshed's
Chronicles. This " description" likewise received meet chastise-
ment from an author of the name of Barnaby Rich, who drew up
a new and improved account of this country in 1610. Some of
Richard's Letters, also, are preserved in Burman's Sylloge, He
bad a son named William, who was bom at Brussels in 1601, and
at the age of sixteen entered into the Society of the Jesuits. He
was a man endowed with excellent parts, and a writer of several
treatises, of which Sotvellus in his Bibliotheca Sript. Soc. Jes.
gives a catalogue. He died in 1663.

414 COUNTY OP DUBLIIf.

The northern rood from Corduff to Bdrothery
presents at Ballough a small Roman Catholic chapel
of ease ; and from a hill beyond that commands a
magnificent panorama by land and sea, including the
interesting ruins of Lusk and Baldungan, the villages
of Rush and Malahide, the heights of Howth, Lam-
bay, Hollywood, and Garristown, with countless other
objects of interest. A short way beyond this the
steeper eminence of the Man of War affords even
more extensive prospects; while the ruins of a once
comfortable and greatly frequented inn on its summit,
and the immense Magog head, that was its sign and
gave name to the locality, now fallen from its high
estate, and smoking a prodigious pipe with wondrous
disproportion over the entrance to a cabin, induce
some salutary reminiscences of the many bridal groups
and joyous parties that have partaken its festive fare»
and, like it, sunk into oblivion.

The course, however, of this excursion, passes
from Corduff, over one of the isolated districts which
constitute the barony of Nethercross, into the inte-
resting village of

LUSK,

where the tourist's attention is first attracted by the
remains of its ancient parochial church, which, though
still used for worship, are so ruinous, that the but-
tresses present the dangerous features of ash trees
springing from all their crevices.

The edifice consists of two long aisles, divided by

LUSK. 415

a range of seven arches ; the east end of the southern
aisle being all now required and fitted up for the
Protestant service. Entering this, the stone basin for
holy water is seen, and near it a baptismal font, ele-
vated on a pedestal, and bored at the bottom, in con-
formity with the canon of Archbishop Comyn's synod,
** to convey, after the ceremony of baptism, the holy
water down to mother earth.'* Near it is inserted, in
one of the stopped up arches that divide the two
aisles, a very ancient monument, which was dug up
in 1753, composed of coarse grit stone, and of the
ordinary dimensions. A representation of our Sa-
viour on the cross in relievo, occupies two-thirds of
its length ; while the upper third presents at left the
bust of an old man, with a ball and cross in his hand;
and at right an armorial, on which a bird alone can
be plainly traced. In the same line is a black slab,
to the memory of Captain Richard Roe, of Bullock
in this county, who died in 1656 ; while on the oppo-
site wall is another to the Archdall family, since
1751 ; and a large tomb to that of " Umfries," since
1713.

In the section now appropriated to divine worship,
immediately before the communion table, is the costly
and noble monument of Sir Christopher Bamewall,
of Turvey, (grandfather of Nicholas, first Viscount
Kingsland,) and his lady, who survived him, and mar-
ried Sir Lucas Dillon, of Moymet, in the county Meath.
It is composed of different materials, the principal
figures being sculptured in grey Italian marble, whilst
the lower part of the tomb is entirely of Kilkenny

416 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

marble* Sir Christopher is represented in a rich suit
ef armour, his head bare, and his hands joined over
his breast in a devotional posture : his feet rest on the
body of a greyhound. His lady appears lying beside
him, dressed in a round cap and high ruffles; her
gown, thickly plaited round the waist, puffed on the
shoulders, and richly embroidered ; her petticoat is
designed as of sumptuous cloth of gold ; and from her
girdle hangs a chain ' of superior workmanship, to
which is appendant a scapular, two inches square. At
her feet, which can scarcely be distinguished, is placed
a lap-dog. Her hands, like those of her husband, are
crossed devotionally on her bosom, and the head of
each reposes on an embroidered pillow. The sides
are sculptured with the armorials of the Dillons
and Bamewalls. The whole of this fine piece of
sculpture is barbarously smothered up by the steps
and platform into a pulpit, which exactly rests upon
the faces of those fine figures. See of this Sir Chris-
topher very fully, ante^ in the memoir of " the Family
of Bamewall."

In the north aisle is a tomb of black marble, bear-
ing the effigies of a knight in armour, the visor un-
closed, and his sword across the left thighs the hands
joined over the breast in the attitude of prayer, and
the feet resting upon a dog : the inscription on the
exergue states this " to be the monument of James
Bermingham of Ballough, and his wife Eleanora Fitz
William, who died in 1637.'* Beside it, encompassed
with an iron railing, is another tomb of Kilkenny
marble, erected to the memory of Sir Robert Echlin,

LU8K, 417

of Kush, who died in 1757* This is inscribed with
the lines —

" Here lies an honest man ^without pretence.
Blessed with plain reason, and with common sense ;
Calmly he looked on either life, and here
Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear :
From nature's temperate feast rose satisfied,
Thanked Heaven that he had lived, and that — he died."

There are also in this aisle a tombstone to Christopher
Russell, who died in 1750, erected near the spot
where his relative, Archbishop Russell, was buried ;
and a mural slab, of white marble, and two tombstones
beneath, to the Rev* Nicholas Wade, parish priest of
St. Michan*s, Dublin, who died in 1802, and his an-
cestors of New Haggard and Tomminstown, since
1 738. Here was formerly exhibited, according to
Brewer, a vestige of antiquity, supposed to be part of
an idol appertaining to the Danes. << Its material,''
he adds, *^ resembles stone, but is as weighty as the
most ponderous mineral : the carving represents the
human features in a modification fancifully hideous,
the face being about seven inches broad, and the head,
without neck or body, attached to a pair of kneeling
thighs and legs.'* This relic cannot, however, now
be found ; but there is in the wall opposite the en-
trance, a curious stone, carved with a small, but not
disproportioned figure of a warrior.

Adjoining the west end of this church, stands a
handsome and extremely solid square steeple, beneath
which is a crypt, or vaulted chapel. Three angles of
this edifice are flanked by comparatively modem round,

418 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

embattled, slender towers, incorporated witb the build-
ing ; while at the fourth angle is an isolated round
tower, of the ** veritable antique," rising to a consi-
derable height above any other part of the building,
and measuring in the inner diameter at bottom two
yards and a half. It is in excellent preservation, and
affords, by the later erection of the adjoining belfry,
a very convincing evidence, that it at least was not
recognized by our ancestors, learned in acoustics, as a
fit "instrument of sound" for such a purpose, as the
theory of some would refer thesb edifices to. On ih6
occasion of building thd steeple, an entrance was con-
structed from it into the Round Tower, by steps
raised to the level of its ancient door.

In the churchyard are monuments to the Murray
family, since 1734 ; to the Dungans, since 1785 ; the
Seavers of Rush, from the commencement of the
eighteenth century ; the Rochforts o£ Walshestown,
&c. Near the church is a glebe-house, with a glebe
of two acres adjacent, and about twenty acres within
half a mile's distance.

In another part of the town is a large and lofty
Roman Catholic church. It has a mural slab to the
Rev. Patrick Kelly, Vicar-General of the diocese, and
pastor of this parish, who died in 1834. This edifice
also is suiTOunded by a grave-yard, but it exhibits no
tombs of note, with the exception of one to a Mr.
William Clarke, who died in 1833, at the advanced
age of 105. Near this are the National schools for
boys and girls, to which the Board allows £18 per
annum. The number of their pupils was 1 28 in 1834.

LUSK. 419

Lusk give& its ussme to the parish, or rather to
two parishes — ^that of East Lusk and West Lusk, con-
taining in the two baronies of Balrothery and New-
castle, fifty-four to wnlands, extending over 16,642a.
Or. 31p.,and having a total population of 5866 persims.
These parishes constitute one vicarage of the annud
value of £120, in the deanery of Ganristown, to which
the treasurer and precentor of St. Patrick's, who are
the impropriators of the rectory, present alternately.
In the Catholic dispensation, this parish is in the
Union of Swords. It is chiefly laid out in tillage^
and the number of its labourers is said to be about
140, of whom fifty have constant, and the rest occa-
sional employment. The wages of labour is about
1^. per day ; rent from £l 10^. to £2 5^. per acre.
The chief proprietors are Lord Howth, Sir William
Palmer, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Earl of King-
ston, Colonel Loftus, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Byrne, and
Mr. White has lately purchased, from the Commis-
sioners of Woods and Forests, the commons apper-
taining to the village, which comprised about 300
Irish acres, in five parcels.

In 497 died St. Macculind, Bishop of Lusk, to whom the church
vnm dedicated. He is dignified in the ancient notices with the
t«rm bishop, and his successors are so indifferently termed bishops
or abbots. According to tradition his remains were deposited in
a vault, which being termed in Irish << Lusca," is supposed to have
given name to the locality. Within this church was also a chapel
dedicated to St. Maurus.

In 695 died here Casson, a learned chronographer, and in the
same year, St. Adamnanus held a synod in the abbey of Lusk, at
which were present 9k\ the principal prelates of the kingdom. In
825 the abbey was pillaged and destroyed ; and in 854, the abbey

2 E 2

420 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

and whole town were coiisuined by fire. In 887 Seachnasagli was
abbot of this house.

In 902 died Colman, a learned scribe and Bishop of Lusk and
Duleek. In 1069 the town suffered considerably by fire; in 1089
it was burned by the people of Munster, when 180 persons perished
in the church ; and in 1 133 it sustained a very similar visitation.
In 113$ the town, the abbey, and the whole country of Fin^al,
were burned by Donel Mac Murrough O'Melaghlin, in revenge
for the murder of his brother, Connor Prince of Meath. The
sacrilege was not, however, committed with impunity, and O'Me-
laghlin was slain by the people of this town.

So early as the year 1178 the Pope confirmed Lusk, with its
church and appurtenances, to the see of Dublin, as did Prince
John subsequently, and Pope Innocent the Third in 1216.

In 1188 the tithes of this parish, or at least a considerable
portion of them, having previously belonged to St. Mary's Abbey,
were assigned by the prior and monks of that establishment, to
John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin.

In 1190 the Nunnery of Lusk, originally founded for ladies
of the order of Arroasia, and afterwards appropriated to the priory
of All-Saints, Dublin, was translated to Grace Dieu, by the last-
mentioned archbishop, who filled it with regular canonesses fol-
lowing the rules of St. Augustin, and granted an endowment to it.
In 1196 Pope Celestine the Third confirmed to the. abbess of this
nunnery the church of St. Mary of Lusk, with the tithes, being
the gift of Archbishop Comyn, the churches of St. Mary of Dub-
lin, St. Mary of Duleek, St. Mary of Termonfeckin, St. Mary of
Scriue, the Church of St. Odra, those of St. Mary of Kelb, St.
Mary of Fore, St. Mary of Durrough, St. Mary of Clonmacnoise^
St. Mary of £vachdun, with all their several and respective post
sessions.

In 1205 Eustace de Roche obtained a grant of certain parcels
of land within the honor of Lusk ; and in 1219 the church, which
had previously been a prebend in the gift of Philip de Bray, was
assigned as part of the provision for the precentor of St. Patrick's.
The Archdeacon of Dublin, however, had at this time a certain
r'ght herein, which he exchanged for the chapel of Tawney. For
a notice in 1227 see « Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dubhn."

LU8K. 421

Id 1284 an inquiry was held lo determine the right of patro-
mage to Lusk, which was then litigated. The jury decided that
during the vacancy of the see of Dublin the dean and chapter
did present, but at other times the archbishop. The vicarage
was then valued at thirty-four marks. In the same year Walter
Scamnel, prebendary of Lusk, was made bishop of Sarum. For a
notice of John, vicar of Lusk in 1299, see the " Memoirs of the
Archbishops of Dublin."

In 1306 Lusk having been divided into two prebends, and two
vicarages, the former were valued at £33 6s. 8rf. each ; the latter
At £26 Idi. Sd. respectively. In 1317 the archbishop of Dublin
being seised, in right of his see, (inter aUa) of the manor, a carucate,
and 111 acres of land in Lusk, 125 acres of land in Clonmethan, &c.,
obtained a grant of the same for ever, from the crown, reserving
services to the king and his successors, on vacancies of the see
occurring. In 1318 an inquisition was held concerning the right
of presentation to the vicarages. The jury was composed of fif-
teen clergymen, and seventeen laymen, and they decided that the
rector was the true patron ; and the same jurors reported their
value at that time to be £10 yearly.

In 1375 a similar commission to that alluded to at << Makhide,"
was given to the overseers of the harbour of Lusk. This record
is the more extraordinary as the sea does not now come within a
considerable distance of this village; it probably, however, referred
to Rogerstown within the parish.

In 1381 John de Bryen, being prebendary of one portion of
Lusk, forfeited the issues and profits of his prebend by long ah**
sence from the parish. In 1406 Thomas Cranlegh, prebendary
of one portion of Lusk, had license to absent himself from Ireland
for two years, for the purpose of studying at Oxford, with liberty
to receive by his deputies the fruits and profits of his benefice.
In 1453 the king granted to John Wright the prebend or canonry
of one portion of Lusk, appertaining to the deanery of the church
of St. Patrick, while immediately after Richard Eustace was by
provision of the Pope, prebendary of the portion " ex parte precen-
toris." He was sued on the statute of provisors for soliciting this
foreign and prohibited patronage, but received a pardon which
was confirmed by act of parliament.

428 COUNTY OT DUBLIN.

In 146^ a moiety of Lusk wbb restored to tbe preeentor of
St. Patrick's, and the other moiety confirmed by the king to ibm
treasurer of that Cathedral, up to which period the suceesaon of
the prebendaries, as &r4» ascertainable, was as fc^ws:

1381 John de Bryen.
1406 Thomas Cradegh.

1284 Walter Scamnel.
Roger Fit z- Roger.

1294 J •^*°*®^ °^ Spain.
I R. de Apinedon.

I^^eo (John Wright.
( Richard Eustace.

Apingdon.

In 1502 Thomas Rochfort Precentor of St. Patrick's, made a
donation to the church of Lusk of a large table of alabaster, the
high altar and three images, one of our Saviour placed in the
centre, with St. Macculind, the patron sarot of Lusk, on his right
hand, and St. Patrick on his left. In 1513 Edmond, fourth
brother of Sir Bartholomew Dillon, who was in this year made
Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, was Prior of Lusk.

In 1515 Sir Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormond, was found seised
of the manors of Turvey, Rush, and Balscadden, and a part of
Lusk.

In 1530 the only chapels appendant to Lusk are stated to be
Rush, situated in the land of the Earl of Ormond, Kibure, and
Knightstown, now known by the corrupted name of Whitestown.
The churches of Balrothery, Baldungan, and Lambecher at Bre-
mpre, were in earlier times subservient to it, and continued evea
at this time to pay pensions to it as the mother church.

In 1539 the vicarage of Lusk, << ex parte precentoris,'' was
valued to the First Fruits at £14 bs. lOd. while the treasurer's
portion was rated at £14 I2s. 6d, In the same year the king
granted to Gerald Aylmer, then Chief Justice of Ireland,
(inter alioy) certain lands in this parish, in tail male. The family
of de Bathe having, however, subsequently made a claim thereto,
the heir of said Aylmer came to an agreement, and surrendering
certain parcels to them, obtained from the crown a new patent in
fee of the remainder, while de Bathe had a similar grant of the
part so assigned to him. For a further notice in this year, see at
" Nanger."

In 1541 Alison White, the last Prioress of Grace Dieu, was
found seised, among several possessions, of certain measoagesi

LUSK. 423

106a. of land in Luak^ and a flaggon of ale out of every brewing
for sale in Lusk, annual value £6 5s. &d.

In 1547 the rectory was found to be divided, as before-men-
tioned, into two portions ; one moiety belonging to the precentor,
the other to the treasure of St. Patrick's cathedral, both of
vwhom were bound to repair the chancel of the parish, and each
bad the appointment of a vicar. The inquisition states the de-
mesne lands as comprising 80a., and details the tith^ payable out
of the respective townUinds, with their values. Some parcels were
charged with the tithes of corn and hay, others with the long
tithes, to the total annual value of ^123 19^. lOd. It is worthy
of notice, that according to this record the tithes of corn and hay
from Rush and Whitestown were leased at the annual rent of
£7 9s, 4J., and two dozen of dry ling, thus aflfording some evi*
dance of the ancient celebrity of the Rush ling.

In 1548 all the lands and possessions, to which the nunnery of
Chrace Dieu was entitled in thb parish, &c were granted for «ver
to Patrick BamewaU, Esq., and subsequently confirmed to him.
In the same year the priory of AU-FUallows was found to have
been seised of the nunnery or cell of Lusk. For a notice in 1561,
see ^^Clontnethan'* at that year.

In 1575 Sir Christopher Bamewall was buried here, to wh<>80^
memory the marble monument,, before alluded to, was erectefi
in the south £Jsle.

In 1609 the king's letter passed for a! grant to James Netter-
▼ille of a messuage and certain lands in the town of Lusk, toge^
ther with the tithes of «< the Riglas," of the yearly value pf
£8 7s. Sd. For a notice in 1629, aee at '« Kihiiainham/'

About the year 1630 the two vicarages of Lusk were, by con-
sent of the Archbishop, consolidated, on account of the poverty of
their revenues, and have so continued ever since ; the precentor
and treasurer of St. Patrick's presenting thereto alternately.

In 1641 Luke Netterville and others caused proclamation to
be made in the market place at Lusk, for the general and import-
ant meeting which was afterwards held at Swords. Of the for-
feitures consequent upon « the affair^ of this year, the principal
in this parish were those of George Blackney, 372a., Robert
Walsh, 367a. John Geydon, 300a.) Robert Arthur, 259a., An-

424 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

thony de la Hoyde, 145a., William Travers, V20kJf and Pliiltp
Hoare, 40a.

In 1667 the denomination called the Regulars of Luak, 140a.,
was granted, with all the tithes thereunto belonging, to Jame9
Duke of Ormond, and in the same year the Archbishop of Dub-
lin and hb successors had a grant, as part of the augmentation of
that see, of ddA. in Lusk, 2d2A. in Walshestown, &c. In 1674
the treasurer's moiety of the tithes of this parish was leased for
£91 per annum. For a notice in 1682, see at " Feltrim."

In 1689 Doctor Patrick Russell, Roman Catholic Archbishop
of Dublin, having died during the residence of King James in
Dublin, was interred here. In the same year the chapter of
St. Patrick's nominated a vicar to the cure of Lusk, vacant by the
death of John Archdall.

In 1697 the Reverend Joseph Walsh was returned as parish
priest of Lusk and Hohnpatrick, having Mr. William Shanley as
his curate.

In 1703 Edward Swan of Kilrisk had a grant of that part of
Lusk called Pagan's Freehold, 20a., the estate of Richard Pagan,
attainted.

About the year 1742 Doctor Stearne, Bishop of Clogher, be-
queathed his paternal estate of Ballogh, together with his freehold
in Lusk, (subject to the chief rent of £6 per annum to the Arch-
bishop of Dublin, and to the annual sum of £20 for ever to Mer-
cer's Alms-house,) to the use of Dr. Steevens's Ho^ital, and in
1787 John Archdall devised £200 for the use of the poor of this
place.

The periodicals of 1789 record the shock of an earthquake as
having been then felt in this town and its vicinity.

In 1822 the extensive commons appertaining to this town,
were enclosed by authority of a private act of parliament, 2 Geo.
4, c. xxi.

The advice of the poet is not inapplicable here,
and, if you would view Lusk aright,

<< Go visit it by the pale moonlight."

The writer has enjoyed it in tliat holy hour, wandered

ROQEBSTOWN. 425

through the < tombs of its graveyard, stood beneath
the awful shadows of its towers, entered the conse-
crated walls, and walked amidst the dead of ages. —
For a short time a dim-glaring flambeau aided to
announce its once illustrious occupants, but these
once made known, all light was willingly extinguish*
ed, but that over which the power of man has no con-
trol. The echo of the dropping torch, as it fell
upon the ground, and the scattered expiring sparks of
its light seemed the voice and the spirit of departing
mortality. They died away and the full, clear moon:
streamed over the walls and monuments, mingled
with the shadows of the casements and the buttresses^
and the wavering ivy that softened oflP the radiance
but enhanced its witchery. A pilgrimage to the
summit of the belfry, and a softened view of the sur-
rounding scenery reposing in that chaste light, and
above all the bay beaming like one vast sheet of mo-
ther of pearl beneath the more perpendicular rays,
completed the enchantment of the spell.

At right of the road from Lusk to Rush lies

HOOERSTOWN,

an estate of Lord Howth, having an ancient seaport,
the channel of which affords good shelter and is of
easy access. To go over the bar, according to the
nautical instructions, bring the steeple of Lusk into
a valley of the two northernmost hills, bearing N. W.
half N. which is the course to steer. There is ten
feet water on the bar when Lampsoon head is just

426 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

covered. It flows in spring tides about fifteen feet,
and there is about five feet difference in high water
springs and neap tides.

Here is a pretty residence of Mr. Seaver, situated
amidst ornamental plantations and well-enclosed parks,
and having a choice and well-walled garden attached.
The creek that runs up to Lissen-Hall, when the tide
is in, gives a beautiful fore-view, while the eminences
of Coolock barony on the opposite shore, and the
clear chart of the whole district of Fingal at the
nearer side, complete the panorama.

In 1178 Archbishop OToole granted to Christ Church 81a.
in Rogerstown.

In 1356 John, Archbishop of Dublin, recovered, in a suit
against John Hollywood of Rogerstown, the harbour of Rogers-
town otherwise called RogershaTen, being parcel of the Archbi-
shop's manor of Swords, whereupon said HoIl3rwood executed a
solemn release of his claim thereto for ever.* For a notice in
1397, see " Swords."

In 1606 Nicholas Lord Howth died, seised of ten messuages
and 120a. in Rogerstown, three messuages, and 15a. in Parnels-
town, &c., whtiih, as the record states, he held of the Archbishop
of Dublin, as of hb manor of Swords, by fealty.

A well shaded road leads from Rogerstown through
New Haggard to the Dublin road, which it joins near
Turvey. The sandy shores between this and the
before-mentioned creek, abound with the hordeum
maritimum, sea barley ; and the raphanus raphani^
trum, wild radish.

Returning to the Rush road the, tourist riches
the secluded hamlet of

• Rot Pat in Cane Hib.

RUSH. 427

WHITE8T0WN,

as corruptly caUed from its more ancient name of
Knightstown, idso the ancient estate of Lord Howth.
It was formerly a chapelry suhseryient to Luak ; and
the site of the old church is still traced in the centre
of a burial . ground, thickly set with obeeure tomb-
stfOnes and bristly with nettles. A tasteless arch rises
amidst those, erected in honour of some individual
i^fhom, even in tradition, it has now ceased to comme-
morate. Near it, on the day of visit* was a freshly
sodded grave, rustically adorned wijth the emblems
of innocence and chastity — ^garlands of white paper
fantastically cut out and wreathed over laths and
osiers, a simple tribute of surviving afiecticm. In the
adjoining valley are the remains of a mill, long since
deserted even by the babbling, unimpeded stream^
that once turned its vigorous wheels.

A short distance beyond Whitestown is

BUSH,

enumerated by HoUinshed as one of the chief haven
towns of Ireland, and once celebrated for the curing
of ling, and the extensive pursuit of other fisheries.
The harbour having, however, become more difBcult
of access, the bounty having been withdrawn, and the
inhabitants being less adventurous than their neigh-
bours of Skerries, the fisheries here have wholly

428 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

declined, a fact which was strikingly evidenced by
the boats that lay rotting on the shore.

The village consists of one long avenue of cabins
nearly parallel with the beach, and literally built upon
the sands. It has a neat cruciform chapel erected in
1760, and dedicated to St. Maurus the disciple of
St. Benedict. On Sundays there is much edification
in witnessing the groups of children and sailors, who
devoutly attend here to catechism and moral exhor-
tations. In the town is also a school, to which the
National Board allows £10 per annum, and Sir Wil-
liam Palmer £20. It was attended by 233 pupils in
1834. There are also a dispensary and a flour mill
here.

Near the village is Rush House, a handsome
antique structure, containing some valuable paintings
by the first masters. The demesne, more properly
called Kinure Park, from the old chapel of Kinure
which it surrounds, is prettily undulated and wooded,
but not with any trees of age or size. A spring, called
St. Catherine's well, is seen issuing from a rock on
the avenue from the house to the old church, whose
ruins are situated in a solemn sequestered situation,
and are thickly over-arched with festoons of ivy. It
was dedicated to St. Damnan, and measures about
sixteen yards in length by five and a half in breadth.
Within it are some old tombs, one to a member of the
Walsh family, another raised monument to " The
affable, obliging, exemplary, wise, devout, most cha-
ritable, most virtuous, and religious, the Right Hon.

RUSH. 429

George Lord Hamilton, Baron of Strabane," who
had resided at Kinure and died in 1668. It was
erected by his widow Elizabeth, who was the daughtei*
of Christopher Fagan, of Feltrim. There is also a
black mural slab in a comer of this deserted temj^e of
the Deity, at whose foot several of the parkh priests
have been interred. It especially commemorates the
Rev. Bamaby Farran, who died in 1756; the Rev*
Thomas Murphy who died in 1785; and the Rev.
William Murray who died in 1795. In the outer
grave-yard is the tomb of the celebrated smuggler
Jack Connor, well known as Jack the Bachelor, who
died in 1772. At the very foot of this churchyard,
in a sombre and ill chosen site, is a wood house, which,
if designed for the ordinary purposes of rural meals
and merriment, must have demanded guests of no ordi-
nary class, and feelings of Egyptian temperament to
recreate in such a presence. Near the ruined church
are the yet more mutilated remains of the arched
baronial kitchen of a castle.

In the Protestant arrangement Rush is a portion of
the parish of Lusk ; in the Catholic it now constitutes a
separate parish. Its population was in 1821 returned as
only 1004 persons, increased on the census of 1831
to 2144. The Poor Inquiry Report of 1836 states
250 labourers in this parish, (treating it as a distinct
one,) of whom but 100 have constant employment,
the remainder occasional. The lands about this vil«
lage are the fee of Sir William Palmer, and are let,
the sandy parts, at about £l per acre; the clayey
at £2 10^. The former can only produce the rent

430 COUNTY OP DUBUN.

by the &eility of sea weed frdm Lambsy, Iiishaicl^
£ye> kc. A cabin without land is let fat £2 annually.
There is a portion of Rttdi^ however, cdled Drum^
maoagh, deemed particularly ridi by Rutty» the rich^
est in the whole county, and which accordingly is let at
four guineas per acre. On tiiis subdenomination,
formerly the pn^rty of the Bamewall family,* are
some curious earUiworks.

The sea: here affords a plentiful supply of the
rcdm capsrc^ thombadcs, commonly called maiden
ray, which are dried and saved by the inhabitants,
and an oil extracted from them. A large rock oys-
ter is also found here, but so full of salt that it is
more partaoularly used in sauces. The fishery here
has, as before suggested, greatly declined. In 1820
there were twenty-three boats of from twenty-five to
fifty-five tons burthen, and each employed on board
eight men ; at present only eight of l3iese boats are
engaged in the fisheries, and each of them employs
eight men. The harbour is dry, and wherries cannot
get round the pier-head until half flood ; they are li-
able to be wrecked should the wind blow hard from
the eastward, in whidi case they are obliged to haul
lip close to the ground, and frequently get scraped in
eonsequence. The wear and tear of ropes is thus
very great, and, unless some assistance towards erect-
ing a new harbour is obtained, the fishing vessels will
be destroyed in a few years, already more than half
hiave been lost since the abolition of the bounties.
- _ - _ ■ ■ ■ ■

• Rot in Cane. Hib.

RUSH. 431

Rash was an ancient manor eitentiKng oyer the lands of Bal-
cony, Heathtown, Whitestown, Balscadden, Kinure, Ardlaw, &c
The fee was vested in the house of Ormond from the time of
Edward the First nntQ the year 1641.

For notices of thb manor in 1385, 1461, and 1515, see
<< Turvey/' and for other notices of its chapel and tithes in 1580
and 1547 see ^'Lusk.'' At the time of Archbishop Allen, its chapel
was stated to be subservient to Lusk, and surrounded by the lands
of the Earl of Ormond.

In the Act of Absentees of 1537, there is a special clause that
nothing therein cbntiuned shall be prejudicial or hurtful to Sir
John Barnewall, Ktaight, Liord of Trimlestown, and Patrick Barne*
wall of Fieldstown, their executors, &c. in, of, or for the oflSce of
steward, seneschal, surveyor, and receiver of the manors and lord-
ships of Rush, Balscadden, and the moiety of the manor of Port-
raine, a^ of sundry other manors therein enumerated. In 1616
Nicholas Liord Howth, died seised of two messuages and 85 acres
here, which he held of the Earl of Ormond as of his manor of
Bush.

Maurice Connell forfeited in 1641, eighty-four acres of Irish-
town, sitiiated within the manor of Rush. Soon after which (in
1666) the Duke of Ormond had a grant, or rather a confirmation
patent of Kinure 594 acres, and, on his attainder, the family of
Echlin obtained a title in thb manor, which descended to the
Sir Robert Echlin mentioned at « Lusk" as having died in 1767.
The fee has latterly vested in the family of Palmer.

** In this small seaport was born Luke Ryan, much celebrated
iti the American War as commander of the Black Prince Privateer,
under commission of the French government. This bold adven-
turer, whose actions at the time attracted much conversation, was
tried as a pirate at the Old Bailey, and four different times ordered
for execution, but reprieved. On the conclusion of peace he
obtained his liberty through the mediation of the Court of Ver-
sailles, arid expected to enjoy the fruits of his exploits, a fortune
of £70,000, which he had lodged in a mercantile house at Roscoff
in Britanny ; but his wary bankers, taking advantage, as is said, of
his legal incapacity to sue, applied that large sum to their own

432 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

use. The wild career of this daring seaman terminated in the
King's Bench prison, where he died in 1789 being detained for a
debt of £200."*

The botany of Rush exhibits on its sandy fields
and shores, hordeum mariiimum^ sea barley ; sahola
kalif prickly saltwort ; arenaria peploidesj sea sand-
wort ; glaucum luieum^ yellow-homed poppy ; gen-
tiana campestris^ field gentian ; agrostema githago^
com cockle ; cerastium semtdecandrum, little mouse-
ear chickweed; cerastium arvense^ field mouse-ear
chickweed ; spergula arvermsy com spurrey ; reseda
luteay base rocket ; papaver hi/bridum, round rough-
headed poppy; Tiepeto cataria, cat mint; lemurus
cardiacuj motherwort ; cakile maritima, sea rocket;
sinapis alba, white mustard ; erodium cictUarium^
hemlock stork's bill ; anthylli^ vulnerariaj kidney
retch ; sonchus arvensis, com sow thistle ; carduus
marianus^ milk thistle ; carex arenaria^ sea sedge ;
trifolium arvensey hare's-foot trefoil ; focus ciliatus,
ciliated fucus ; fucus actUeattcs, prickly fucus \ focus
plicatoSi matted fucus \focfos corneus^ homy fucus. —
On the rocks, conferva setacea, bristly conferva;
statice armeria^ sea pink, &c. — In the marshes, apizcm
graveolensj wild celery. — In the hedges, trifolium
officirude^ melilot. — In the com fields, centaurea
cyanus^ blue bottle : and, on the ditches, lichen syl-
vaticus^ wood lichen.

From Rush, a pleasant sail of about three milea
will bring the visiter to

• Brewer's Beauties of Ireland, vol. i. p. 257.

LAMBAY. 433

LAMBAY,

an island of nearly an oval form, about two miles
long and a mile and a quarter broad, comprising
1371 acres, and accounted as part of the parish of East
Lusk. Its substratum consists of conglomerated
rocks of different kinds, chiefly of argillaceous schist,
including fragments of other rocks. There is also a
stratum of sandstone conglomerate at its northern
extremity. In some places the schist is greatly con-
torted, while limestone and porphyry are extremely
abundant, alternating with and passing into grey-
wacke. The surface is very susceptible of cultiva-
tion, and Archer asserts that there are strong indi-
cations of coal here.

There is a very curious old polygon edifice on
the island, apparently constructed for defending the
place, as its battlements and spikeholes command the
island in every direction. It has been built entirely
upon arches without timber. Near it is a village
inhabited by some husbandmen, who partly plough
the island, and on the rest feed cattle and sheep. The
harbour, which was erected by public grants, is in
good repair, but dry, and does not afford shelter to a
boat when the wind blows hard from any point.
The depth of water at the pier head is sixteen feet.
There is also here a curious spring of fine water
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. On the north coast
ships may. anchor in twelve and thirteen fathoms for
a southerly wind. For a sea-wind the ships must
ride on the west side over against the castle, but that

434 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

road is not very good, "because always in that sound,
being about three miles broad, there goeth a great
sea."* The best roadstead in easterly wuids is to th^
westward of the island, between the Burren rock oh
the south and the reefs called the Tailors on the
Dorth. The ground is low and level; boats and
smacl^ may sail hence when they would be wind-
bound in every creek on the main. They would be
at all times from five to nine miles nearer the fishery
ground, and might run hither for shelter when, ex-
cept Howth, no other place is accessible on the coast
A pier might be constructed here for about £1000,
which would be of the greatest utility in sheltering
wherries and coasters.

On the island rabbits and sea fowl abound; of
the latter the Cornish chough, corvus graculus^ with
red bill and shanks, is frequently seen here ; also the
reck pigeon, colvmba rupicola ; and, according to
Rutty, the anas articti oflten rests upon it, appearing
in April and May and departing in July and August.
All about the rocky shore is a great plenty of crabs,
oysters, and lobsters. The latter fishery would form
a lucrative branch of industry in this country, but it
is not efficiently worked. Lobsters exist in great
plenty on various points of the coast, yet the English
markets derive their principal supplies from Norway,
while in the Irish markets lobsters are scarce, dear,
and oflen not to be had. Between Lambay and
Rock-a-Bill there is a natural bed of the large rock
oyster, which is dredged occasionally, but the pro-

• Boate'8 Nat. Hist, of Ireland, p. 20.

LAMBAY. 435

dtice is trifling. A species of the barilla plant is said
to grow upon the island, and it is almost entirely en-
compassed by a plentiful kelp coast.

So early as the day9 of Pliny and Ptolemy, Lambay was known,
by the name of Limnusy or Limni.

In 1184 Prince John bestowed it on the see of Dublin, an
endowment which Pope Clement the Third confirmed in 1188^.
The title of the Archbishops of Dublin was not, however, com-
plete until 1204, when the religious house of Christ's Church, for
valuable consideration, relinquished some claims which it had
thereto. See at "Portbane."

In 1837 occurs a patent of confirmation for a chantry within
the island, but no traces of such a building or other evidence of
its endowment are to be found. In the same year King Edward
confirmed the right of the see of Dublin to this island, as did
King Richard when in Dublin in 1394 ; subsequent to which it
yfss appropriated to the nunnery of Grace Dieu.

In 1467 Lambay being ^' without defence of a Castle, and a
receptacle for the king^s enemies as Britons, Spaniards, French,
and Scots, to the annoyance of the main 'land,** it was provided
by statute that the Earl of Worcester, then Lord Deputy, should
have the sud island to him and his heirs, to build a fortress on,
paying to the Archbishop of Dublin and hb successors forty shillings
per annum ; while, in furtherance of the same object, the king in
1496, by writ, reciting that he had learned by a petition of the
Convent and Prior of St. Patrick's of Holmpatrick, that the bland
of Lambay had on its shores various havens and creeks, in which
pirates were accustomed to shelter, and that the said prior and
convent were seised in right of their house of a little island called
Mellock near Skerry, from which, when the tide was out, a dry
way was open to Lambay, and that, if a fortified harbour and wall
were constructed upon this, it would be of great benefit, granted
license to them to construct same accordingly; and further gave
to them in frankalmoigne all customs, duties, cokets, and pound-
ages on things imported there, to the annual amount of twenty

2f2

436 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

mftrks sterling for ever.* This notice is the more remarkable^ u
the space between Holmpatrick and Lambay is now whoHy impas*
sable at the lowest ebb of the tide.

For a notice of Lambay in 1541 see at *< Grace Dieu." In
1543 the Lord Deputy, in his report to the king relative to the
havens of Ireland, states Lambay to be <^ a good road for ail
manners of winds." And again he adds, *< there be also in divers
coasts of this realm Britons and Frenchmen that do some hurt
upon the sea, and for that your Majesty's ships lie at Lambay, and
be as they say restrained by your Highness's instructions not ta
exceed certain bounds, they cannot advance to do none enterprise
upon the other frontiers of this your realm, and for as much, gra-
cious Lord, as your Admiral here made me, in some part privy
to the same his instructions, whereby it appeareth your prudent
foresight to stay as well the resource out of France into Scotland,
and also out of Scotland to France; and for that appointed your
navy to lie at Lambay, for it Is thought that the Frenchmen and
Scots both have knowledge of your said navy and where they lie,
and so may they pass between the same Lambay and the Holly-
head, which is three-score or four-score miles, without danger of
the same your navy/'f

In 1551 Archbishop Browne had license to alien and let to
fee farm, with the consent of the chapter of Christ Church, to
John Challoner and his heirs, the entire island of Lambay, with
the courts leet and all other hereditaments thereunto belonging ;
besides the whole coast of the sud island at a rent of £6 Idt. 4d^
provided that he or his heirs should within six years build on said
island a town or village for the habitation of fishermen, with a
place of refuge circumvallated with a mound, to which they might
resort in case of any sudden irruption, and also should make
within the said term a harbour for the fishermen's boats, on what-
ever part of the shore of said island he should think fit ; as it ap-
peared that the said Challoner had brought over to the island a
colony of the king's subjects to inhabit and render it safe from
pirates and smugglers. Accordingly the embattled edifice, before
alluded to, is with much probability attributed to him.

• Rot Pat. in Cane. Hib. t State Papers, temp. Hen. VIII.

LAMBAY.

437

In the reiga of Queen Elizabeth a grant of this island was
teide to Sir William Usher in fee, subject to an annual payment
of £6 to the see of Dublin.

In 1604 King James granted to Donogh Earl of Thomond
the rectory and tithes of Lambay» as theretofore demised to Sir
Robert Napper, and then lately granted in fee farm to Sir James
Fulierton.* See at « Bally owen" in 1602.

In 1650 the celebrated Primate Usher, a descendant of the
above Sir William, when the plague raged in Dublin, retired into
this island with his family, and here is said to have composed some
of his works.

In 1691, after the surrender of the fort of Ballymore in the
County of Westmeath to de Ginkle, 780 soldiers and 260
*' rapparees," who were found therein, were sent prisoners to Dub-
lin and thence to Lambay,t ^here they were confined until
the treaty of Limerick ; all persons being prohibited from passing
over to the island under heavy penalties. The Lords Justices,
however, did not at once avow to the prisoners the cause of their
enlargement, as conditioned by that treaty, fearing they might
enter into foreign service. << For this end, on the day the articles
of Limerick were signed, they wrote to Mr. Francis Cufie, then
io Dublin, itaimediately to go to Lambay, with such persons as
he should judge necessary, and to discourse with the prisoners,
without letting them know that they were by treaty to be dis-
charged, and to acquaint them that if they would take the oath
of allegiance, and promise to go to their respective habitations,
they should be set at liberty » and permitted to hve quietly at
home.''^

From the Usher family, Lambay was purchased by that of
Talbot ; and Lord Talbot de Malahide is now its proprietor, subject
however, to the chief rent to the see of DubUn. A yearly pat-
tern used to be held at a holy well in the island, until the present
century, oiv every Trinity Sunday.

About the year 1829 the pier was completed here, from which y^
time it became a small fishing station.

• Rot Pat in Cane. Hib. t Story's Impartial History, p.

t Harris's Life of William tlie Third, p. 351.

91.

438 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

The botany of Lambay is exceedingly interesting;
it abounds with the veronica offimtaUs, comnum
speedwell, with flesh-coloured flowers ; aira prcecoSf
early hair grass; crithmum maritimum, samphire;
mmlmcus ehultiSj dwarf elder ; arenaria marinch
spurry sandwort.^-In the marshy places, mantiajbfh
tana, water blinks ; drosera rotundifoHa, round-leaved
sundew ; trifolium maritimumy teasel -headed trefoil;
senecio aqtmticusy marsh ragwort; orchis lati/blia^
marsh palmate orchis. — On the rocks, stoHce armeria,
sea pink ; geranium sanguiaeimh bloody crane's bill;
intila crithmoidesy samphire-leaved flea-bane. — On
the sea shore, limbarda crithmoides, golden samphirie,
flowering in August and September. — On the dry
heaths, a variety of the erica citierea, with white
flowers.— In the sandy fields, trifoUum arvensCf hair's-
fbot trefoil ; trifolium scabrum^ rough-rigid trefoil r
while the west side of the island presents (enanthe
peiccedanifoUa^ sulphur-wort ; and cenanthe pimpi-
neUoidesy parsley water dropwort, flowering in July.

Returning to the main land, a sandy shore, ii^r^
spersed with low ledges of rock, leads to

LOUGH SHINNY,

an inlet of about a quarter of a mile square, affording,
perhaps, the very best natural situatitm for % harbour
along the whole coast of Leinster, and an excellent
roadstead in all but east winds. Near it, on the sea
coast, is a petrifying spring that deposits large incrus-
tations of various figures on the rocks along which it

LOUGH SHINNY. 43:9

^cibbl^. These incrustetioDS evince th^b calcareous
loeature by fermenting strongly with spirit of vitriol>
4Uid in other appearances correspond exactly with
spar or limestone** Fine crystals are also found in
an adjacent cliff. There are likewise on the coast of
this line large rocks of the Irish slate^ lapis Hiberni-
cics. Grey radiated manganese ore is met with, and a
copper minC) formerly worked here, has been recently
inspected, with the object of ascertaining the propriety
of applying more extensive capital and improved mar
chinery to its productions. Sea lungwort, jmlmpna-
ria maritinui^ with other plants wH w^eds. of the seat
abound along this shore*

In 1542 George, son of Richard de la Hoyde, of Lough SMn*
ny, had livery of seisin of his father's possessions in Phepoes-
town, Iribhtown, Gallanstown, Dunabate, Lough Shinny, Crum-
lin, Lamletter, Ballybetagb, &€• lb 1637 Anthony de la Hoyde
was seised of 117a. in Dunabate, IOOa. in Tankardstown in the*
ffurish of Babothery, 145a. in Lough Slrtnny and ThdmastoWu
in the parish of Lusk, all which he subsequently mortgaged, bul
forfeited his equity of redemption in th^ confiscations of 1641,

In 1666 the Duke of Ormond had a grant of {inter alia) Bal:
fyconny, 469a., Heathstown, ld4A., Ballykea, 545a., Kinure,
594a., and Thomastown, part of Lough Shinny, 2I2a«, statute.
Bdeasuro i and in 1672 Chules Viscount Fitz Harding died seised
of GraUagh, 485a^ Lough Shindy, 58a. Ob. 14p^ Pucksldwu, ]42a^
&c.^ all which he held of the king in free ai>d ccunmon spccage-

In 1771 Mr. Den^)sey, then proprietor of Lough Shinny, pe-
titioned parliament for aid to extend a pier, he had begun here at
bis own expense, and, although a favourable report was made
thereon, the work was not prosecuted^ and it is now a total ruifi.

To complete the shelter here, it would be neces-

...... ♦ Butt/8 Mineral Wat«f% p. 493;

440 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

sary to form a breakwater on the ledge of rock whe^re
the old pier was begun, so as to raise the same above
high water, to within twenty perches of the point
near the Martello tower ; the place affords plenty of
materials for such a work. Jetties might then be run
out in any convenient part of the bay, either from the
shore, or the breakwater for landing, or shipping
places. This harbour would have fifteen feet into it
at low water, and a fine, clear bottom of sand over
an area of about forty English acres.

At a short distance beyond Lough Shinny a Mar-
tello tower has been erected on a promontory, occap-
sionally insulated, for the purpose of defending the
harbour of

SKERRIES,

otherwise called Holmpatrick, implying in its Saxon
" holm'* its character of harbour, and certainly re-
ported by Holinshed as one of the chief havens of
Ireland, but at present it assumes no appearance to
justify the erection of such a battery. The village,
however, is a pleasing object, and its broad street di-
verging into two others of equal breadth, somewhat
in the shape of a Y, its cleanly appearance, its church,
chapel, schools and mills, its fleet of wherries animat-
ing its bay, its fine strand and downs overhanging
the water, and on Sundays and holidays enlivened
by groups of the rural beaus and belles of this little
^* Fair port," the blue sea, and the adjacent islands
cannot fail to gratify the visiter. It is the most con-

SKERRIES. 441

siderable fishing village on the east coast, and is like-
ly to be much improved by the proposed Drogheda
Railway.

The church is a very plain structure, for the re-
pairs of which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have
granted £63 12^. 2d. Within it are three mural
monuments, one to Mr. Dixie Coddington of Holmpa-
trick, who died in 1728, one to Mr. Weston, who died
ill 1751, and another to Mr. Hamilton of Sheephill,
who died in 1800. In the graveyard is an ancient
tombstone to the memory of Elizabeth Finglas, wife
of Thomas Hussey of Holmpatrick, who died in 1577>
another to Richard de la Hoyde of Lough Shinny, in
1587. There are also monuments commemorative of
the Coddingtons and the Woods of Milverton, some to
the crew and passengers of a ship, that was wrecked
some years since on the neighbouring rocks, and a
tombstone to Richard Toole, blacksmith, who died in
1719, remarkable for the curious devices of his trade
which are carved upon it. There is likewise a very
old stone, with a now imintelligible inscription sculp-
tured in alto relievo on the shaft of a cross that ex-
tends over its whole fength, possibly designed to com-
memorate some lordly prior of this house. Nor was it
ill suited to the reflections of the scene, that a rosy
cherub babe, in laughing infancy, was spreading it-
self over that prostrate monument of the long de-
parted, and a group of older but as thoughtless urchins
were clustered round an adjoining headstone, spelling
its broad characters, or vaulting over the sodded arch
that flowered at its base.

442 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

The Roman Catholic chapel is a handsome cru-
ciform structure, erected in 1823, In it is a white
marble slab to the memory of the Rev. Mr. Murraj»
who died in 1834, pastor of this parish.

In the centre of the town are two schools, one for
boys, the other for girls ; they are in connexion with
the National Board, who gave £178 is. Sd. for their
erection, £26 for fitting them up, and allow £16 pei:
ainpum for their support. There is also another free
school here, attended by about thirty children, an4
supported by Mr. Hamilton, the proprietor of the fee.

A tambour factory has been established in the
town by a Mr. Coghlan, which affords employment
to a great many of the surrounding females, of whom
those who are grown earn thereby about four shil'
lings weekly, and children two shillings. There are
also here two windmills and a water mill, and near
the pier some small salt works.

The harbour possesses great natural advantage^
but is not sufficiently capacious. It affords a space
free from shoals, with land shelter on every side but
the east and north-east. A long neck of land ex-
tends eastward from the shore and town close by the
water of the harbour, and at the extremity of this
natural embankment is a lighthouse, while on the
north side of the harbour the land projects in nearly
an e<|ual extent. The pier runs in a northern direc-
tion about six hundred and fifty feet, and the tide
rises fourteen feet at full and change, and sluices it-
self dear. The anchorage outside the harbour has
been materially injured by the Wicklow boats .throw*

8KERRIB6. 443

lug out their ballast^ wh^ they arrive f^ lim^tone,
witii which the place abounds. To make thU harbour,
sailors must, according to the technical instructions
of this coast, keep clear of the cross, give the island a
good birth, until they bring the northernmost house
in the town in a line with a house that stands on the
hill of Skerries. When they bring these marks to
bear they are at the northward of the cross, and when
they have all the town clear of the quay, they will
have four or five fathoms of water in the road, which
is very safe unless it should blow hard at east or
northeast. The pier and harbour, thou^ injudiciously
constructed, afford shelter to a little fleet of wherries
and smacks. In 1801 the wherries alone attached
to this station were thhrty-six. In 1820 fifty-two
boats were employed, of from twenty to fifty-seven*
tons burthen, and each of them had on board six or
eight men. At present only thirty-eight of these
vessels are employed, each being manned as in 1820.
Skerries requires a pier on an extensive scale beyond
any other place on this coast. If a vessel of any de-
scription cannot reach Kingstown in a southerly gale,
(a frequent occurrence,) being obliged to bear up, she
has no other place but Skerries to run for except Bel&st.
Nature has already more than half formed a pier here
on a grand scale, by a rocky projection of 750 yards
into the sea, with a basement from forty to seventy
yards wide^ and having a deep, clear, and safe anchor^
age inside for ships of any draught. An upper work
with a parapet and a horn at the extremity would
complete the harbour. A harbour light on the cross

444 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

rock, at the extremity of a reef ninnbg into the sea,
would also be of great utility.

At a short distance from the coast are situated the
Skerries rocks or islands, three in number, and all re-
markable for producing great quantities of seaweed, of
which kelp was formerly made. Archer says he found
strings of lead ore and sulphur in two of these islands,
and observed beautifully coloured slate rocks, parti-
cularly in that called St. Patrick's. The nearest is
Red Island, the next Colt, and the third St. Patrick's,
while at a yet greater distance in the sea is the Rock
of Bill. St. Patrick's contains about nine acres, and
has upon it some remains of the ancient church. It
takes its name from the popular tradition that the
Apostle of Ireland, when driven to sea by the Pagan
inhabitants of the southern side of the bay, landed
there and blessed it. In the surrounding waters the
sea crab is found, and the bret, sometimes termed the
pheasant of the ocean; the large rock oyster is also
abundant, while lobsters of superior quality are taken
at Rock of Bill, as well as at Lambay and along the
shores, with wicker baskets in form of mousetraps.

The parish, in which Skerries is situated, is more
correctly called Holmpatrick. It is in the deanery
of Garristown, extends over 2131a. Or. 36p., com-
prised in nine townlands, and is wholly tithe free.
Its population was in 1831 returned as (exclusive of
Skerries) 553 persons, while that of Skerries was re-
ported as 2556. The rectory is impropriate in the
Hamilton family, who have endowed its curacy with
£60 per annum, to which the trustees of the First

SKERRIES. 445

Fruits have added the yearly allowance of £40 out of
Primate Boulter's fund. This body also granted £450
for building a glebehouse liere, and £150 towards
the erection of a church. The Roman Catholic
union includes with Holmpatrick, Baldungan under
the name of Milvertoiu. James Hans Hamilton, Esq.,
of Sheep Hill, is the proprietor of the principal part
of the parish, the acreable rent in which varies from
£2 to £2 15^. per annum. Manured ground, how-
ever, brings £12 per acre.

A monastery was founded at a very remote period in St.
Patrick's island, which the Danes are recorded to have burned in
797.* In the ninth century, Moel Finian, Prince of the Bregii,
whose district extended between Dublin and Drogheda, resigning
his government, became a monk in this abbey, of which he was
afterwards superior, and died in 898.

About the year 1 120, the abbey was re-founded for regular ca-
nons of St. Augustine, by Sitric, the son of Murchard, and dedi-
cated, according to its first institution, to St. Patrick.

The order of Regular Canons of St. Augustine is so called
from the saint whose rule they adopted, and who was himself born
at Thagasta, a city of Numidia, in the year 854. In 888 having
obtained ground without the walls of the city of Hippo in Africa,
he associated himself with eleven other persons of eminent sanc-
tity, who lived together after the manner of monks, wearing
leathern girdles, and exercising themselves in fasting, praying, and
meditation, day and night. In the year 1059 Pope Nicholas the
Second, finding that considerable laxity had crept into the monastic
orders in the observance of their discipline, endeavoured to effect
their reform by imposing upon them a new rule of discipline, and
Ivo, Bishop of Chartres, introduced into some congregations of
canons, severer rules even than those of Nicholas, in which origi-
nated the distinction between secular and regular canons, the first
observing the rules of Pope Nicholas, and the latter those of Ivo.

• Annals of Ulster.

446 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

The canons of Su Aagiutine were of the kttter order, an^
were introduced into Eng^d by Aderwald, confessor to Henrj
the First, who founded a priory of his order at Nostei in York-
shire* This order was highly favoured by the king, who in 1107
gave them the priory of Dunstable. Queen Matilda also became
their patroness, and shortly afterwards erected for them the house
of the Holy Trinity in London, the prior of which was always one
of the aldc^rmen of the city* So greatly did they from this time
flourish in Eogland^ that in the time of &dward the First, they had
fifty-three priories in that country, being then popularly called
Austin friars. Their numbers, however, subsequently decreased
there, and, at the time of the suppression, they had only about
thirty-two bouses ; whOe in Lrelaiid they had 9SS moiMsleries and
thirty-three nunneries* The rule, which this refi^ous otd&r ob^
served, although founded, as already remarked, on that of St.
Augustine, was prescribed to them by Pope Alexander the Foiffth
HI 1256. It enjoined, that they should have all things in common,
that the rich, who might become members of their body, should
sell their possessions and give the proceeds to the poor, that the
first part of the morning should be employed in labour, and the
remainder in study, that when they went abroad they should al-
ways go two in company, that they should never eat out of their
monastery, with sundry other minor regulations. There are, alsoi,
tiuns and canonesses who observe the ndes and bear the name of
this order, from which, it may be added, arose a reformed clasd
denominated bare-footed Augustines, Minorets or friars minor.

hk 1124 Malcolm O'Connacan, celebrated for his theological
and scientific lore, died in this island of St. Patrick.* In 1149 a
synod was held here by Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh, and
Malachy, Apostolic Legate, in which fifteen bishops, two hundred
priests, and several others of the clergy assisted. The subject of
their conferences, besides matters of reformation, regarded the
distribution of palls in Ireland, and they unanimously agreed to
send Malachy to the Pope on that errand, in which journey he
died.

In 1216 Pope Innocent the Third confirmed to the see of
Dublin, amongst other possessions, the advowson of the monastery

* Annals of the Four Masters.

SKERRIES. 447

tX Holmpatrick.. About the year 1220, its dtuation in the idand
having been found very inconvenient, the parochial chapel was
erected by Henry de Loundres, Archbishop of Dublin^ on the
nuunland.

In 1357 the king i^pointed hispectors of all the harbours and
creeks from HolmpHtrick to Dublin, to prevent the forestalling of
fiA or exportation thereof tnthout license.*

In 1366 Stephen, Prior of Holmpatrtck, was seised of the lands
of KiUynew in the conntj of Meadi^f On the death of this priori
the temporalities belonging to the house were seised into the
king's hands, as on the ground that some of his royal predecessors
had founded it, but, it being proved by John Randolph, the newly
elected pnor, that their founder was Sitric, the son of .Murchardj
before the Engli^ invasion, that contests had subsisted between
the priory df Ihileek and their house relative to the said lands,
and the subjection of Dulecfc to if olmpatrick, ttnd that same ter-
minated hi the former unhung over to the latter the said premises
for ever, the temporalities so seised were thereupon restored.^
It may be i'emaHced, that, on the election of a prior of this house,
it was indispensably necessary to obtain in the first instance the
itrchbishop's congi cTelirey without which the election was null and
void. Next, after a public citation of aU the members, they pro*
ceeded to dect, and the chosen member having signified his con-
sent, the body deputed certain delegates to notify to the archbishop
the object of their choice, who, thereupon, s^ppointed a day to hear
objections before he confirmed it.

In 1872 it was found on inquisition, that it would operate no
diunage to the king or injury to others, that a grant should be
made to the corporation of Dublin of the customs and duties of all
kinds of merchandise brought for sale, as weH coming as going by
land or sea between Skerries and Arklow, as of all other merchant
dise within the said city, and said customs w^re accordingly in
1375 granteiil to them. In the latter year, the Idng commanded
the Prior of Holmpatrick to arrest and imprison all men-at-arms
or ttrchers of the suite of William de Windsor, Chief Governor of
Ireland, seeking to embark thence*

• Rot Claus. in Cane Hib. t lb. t lb.

448 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

In 1893 sundry persons assaulted the Prior of Holmpatrick,
expelled him from his house, imprisoned him at Ballough, made
a castle of the priory here, and by force of arms kept possession
thereof for a considerable time.*

In 1476 a license was granted to the prior, James Cogan, and
his successors, to acquire lands for the use of the priory to the
value of £40 per annum, notwithstanding the statute of mortmain.

The ploughland of Ballygossan; alitu Cabra-hill, having been
obtained for this priory, by grant it would appear from Edward
the First, on the interference of the Archbishop of Dublin, he re-
served to himself and his successors an annuity of two marks, which
afterwards occasioned great litigation between the archbishops and
the priory, until in 1484 Archbishop Walton, with the consent of
his two chapters, very properly released all right thereto, reserving
in lieu three pounds of wax annually, while he directed the annuity
to be distributed between the prior and canons of this house, fur-
ther ordering that the said convent should keep yearly an anniver-
sary for the archbishop and his successors on the morrow of All
Souls,f an arrangement which was confirmed in 1429 by William
Rokeby, Archbishop of Dublin, and his two chapters.

In 1488 the aforesaid prior, James Cogan, took the oath of
allegiance before Sir Richard Edgecombe, who was sent to Ire-
land to administer same to the principal nobility as before men-
tioned. For a notice of Holmpatrick in 1496, see *' Lambay.**

In 1516 the corporation of Dublin obtained a grant of the
customs of all boats plying between the Nanny water and Arklow
head.

In 1532, at the hosting commanded by the king to assemble on
the hill of Owenstown in this county, the Prior of Holmpatrick was
summoned to attend in right of the manor of Hacketstown.

Holmpatrick was one of the Irish religious houses suppressed
in 1537 previous to the general dissolution, and in the same year
died Peter Manne its last prior, while an inquisition taken in 1543
ascertained its several rights and possessions.

In 1545 the king^s commissioners were empowered to demise
(inter alia)y the king^s farm of Holmpatrick to John Parker. — A

• Rot Claus. in Cane. Hib. t Ware's Bishops, p. 343.

SKERRIES. 449

^very ioteresting notice of the expedition^ which sailed hence against
4he Scots in the same year>, is mentioned at Howth, and a letter
.written by one of its leaders, the Earl of Ormonde, from this port,
to Lord Russell, is given in the State Papers temp. Henry the
Eighth. In it Ormonde intimates, that he was sent on the expedi-
tion by the intrigue of St. Leger with a view to his destruction,
and, after praying a full investigation of any matter that may be
laid to his charge, he concludes, << I am no timorous subject, nor
shall not try my truth in any timorous sort, and would God his
Excellency had even of God the grace and prerogative to know
the privy thoughts of all men in their minds and disposition
towards his Highness, and, if I saw all the power of the world upon
a hill armed against his Majesty, I would rather run to his Grace
though I were slain at his Majesty's heels, than to leave his High*
ness and save myself, I put the judgment of my heart herein to you
and other noblemen that have and can try faithful hearts. At thi^
day my Lord of Lennox and I do sail towards Scotland, God send
us well to speed, and to your lordship health and encrease of hor
nour, praying your good lordship to give further credence to this
bearer, my servant, and thus Almighty God grant unto you, mine
own good lord, your noble heart's desire. From the King's Ma-
jeisty's haven of Skerries, the 15th of November, 1545."

In the parliament of the second year of Elizabeth, Thomas
Fitz Williams of Holmpatrick was one of the knights of the shire
representing this county, the celebrated Chief Baron Finglas of
Westpalstown, who was his father-in-law, being the other.

In 1575 a great plague having broken out in Dublin, the Lord
Deputy Sidney landed at Skerries, and was sworn and kept his
court at Drogheda.

In 1578 Sir Thomas Fitz Williams of Baggotrath and Merrion,
bad a grant of the monastery of Holmpatrick with its possessions
therein fully detailed, including eight cottages, ISIa. arable, 12a.
meadow, 18a. pasture and furze, and the custom of the said cot-
tages in the town of Holmpatrick, being the demesne-lands of
said pripry, one water-mill with the appurtenances, and one wind-
mill upon the hill called Chanon hill, four islands by the haven of
Skerries, other premises at Skerries as before enumerated, certain
premises in the hamlet of Bamegarragh, one messuage, two toU

2 o

450 COUNTT OP DUBLm.

tagesi 1 1& aeres, and tbe custom of the farmers of daul meflsoag^y
Mid cottages in the town or hamlet of Cogbragh (Cabragh) ; one
messuage, siity acres arable, three stangs of meadow, and the cus-
toms of the farmers of said messoages and cottages, in the town of
New Ghinge; two messuages, six cottages, 144 acres of land, and
the customs of the farmers of said messuages and cottages, in the
town of Milwardeston ; one messuage, one cottage, sixty-two acres
of land and nmilar customs, in the town or hamlet of Lanie ; one
castle, one messuage, three cottages, 185 acres, and similar cus-
toms, in the town or hamlet of Hacketstown; four tenements with
their gardens, and eight acres of land in Swords, certain premises
in Piercystown, Dallabrocan, Hamestown, Balniddery, Mallahonie,
and Thurleston, besides certain lands and tithes in the county of
Meath, also the rectory and church of Holmpatrick, with all tithes
and profits thereto belonging, and also the custom and poundage
of all wares and merchandise on the quay of Skerries, wrecks of
the sea, flotsam, jetsam, waifs, strays, goods left and forsaken,
profits and commodities happening on the premises or being parcel
thereof, also all customs of the tithe fish, keelage, wreckage^ an-
chorage, and all other emoluments, Sec, to said quay or creek
appertaining, the customs of the farmers of the messuages and
cottages in tbe town or village of Skerries, and the fields of the
same, &cc.; immediately after which a castle was erected and a gar-
rison established here.

In 1614 Sir Charles Wilmot had a grant of the site and cir-
cuit of this priory, with all the gardens and orchards thereof con-
taining three acres, and of a crown rent reserved thereout. Sir
James Fullerton became subsequently seised of the rectory and
tithes, as also of the lordship and manor of Holmpatrick, which he
sold in 1608 to Donogh Earl of Thomond,* who thereupon passed
patent for the same. The regal visitation of 1615 accordingly
reports the rectory of Holmpatrick as impropriate in that noble-
man, that the vicar of Balrothery was curate, and that the church
and chancel were in good repair. For a notice of Skerries in
1641, see at "Bremore.'*

" In 1668," (it should be 1669,) says Harris in his History of

• Rot. in Cane. Hib.

\ SKERRIES. -^ 431

WiNuun the Third, « Peter Talbot, titulaf Anshbishop of Dublin^
landed at Skerries, and, being hospitably entertained by Oi^tai»
Coddington that night, did upon his departure the next morning
take him aside, and with the most affectionate expressions of kind^
ness ask what title he had to that estate, for that he observed he
had expended considerably upon the improvement of it : Codding-
ton answered, that it was an old estate belonging to the Earl of
Thomond: Talbot told him that title was worth nothing, that it
belonged to the church and would be all taken away, and, there-
fore, advised him to expend no more upon it, but rather to make
ihe most of it and then desert it, which advice was pressed upon
him with strong injunctions of secrecy."

In March, 1675, the Earl of Essex wrote to Secretary Coven-
try : " This packet brought us in the sad news of the loss of his
Majesty's yacht in its voyage to Chester, being split upon a little
rock called the Skerries. It was very full of passengers and many
men of quality; my Lord of Meath is said to be lost, and his son
my Lord Brabazon supposed to be so too ; my Lord of Ardglaas,
with several others, saved themselves upon the rock, where they
were a day and a night before any vessel arrived to relieve them.
We hear that the captain and most of his seamen are drowned."

For a notice of Holmpatrick in 1697, see at «< Lusk."

In 1721 the Hamiltons of Hacketstown became sefced of thig
manor and rectory by purchase from the Earl of Thomond, and of
the town and port of Skerries, and the four islands, parcels of
Holmpatrick, and the customs of fish, and the customs of Ss. 4d.
out of every great ship that comes out of France, Spain, and
Scotland, and four pence out of every such ship coming out of
England, &c This sale was decreed by the Court of Chancery
en suit instituted, and subsequently confirmed by the House of
Lords.

In 1755 the Irish parliament granted £2000 for the construc-
tion of the pier, and in 1767, £1500 more for the same purpose.
It subsequently fell into decay, but was repaired and somewhat
extended by Hans Hamilton, the father of the present proprietor.
The round form of the head is objected to as permitting the sea
to tumble in along the pier, an error which might be easily, and at
a small expense, corrected by a jetty. In 1788 a patent was

2g2

452 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

granted for.two yearlj fairs and a weekly market to be held here,
subject to a certain crown rent, wliich, together with the chief
rent of the manor, was recently purchased by his descendant.

On the sandy shores and fields here the botanist
will find, arenaria peplotdesy sea sandwort; cerastmm
semidecandrum^ little mouse-ear chickweed ; glau-
cium luteum^ yellow homed poppy ; nepeta cataria^
catmint ; leonurus cardiaca^ motherwort ; cakUe ma"
ritima^ sea-rocket ; sinapis alba^ white mustard ;
raphantts raphanistrum^ wild radish ; anthylUs vul-
nerariay kidney-vetch, recommended as an excellent
pasturage for sheep ; carex arenaria^ sea-sedge, flow-
ering in July ; lithospermum maritimumy sea grom-
well. — Between the rocks, conferva selacea^ bristly
conferva, which is said to yield a fine lake-coloured
fluid on being macerated for a short time in fresh
water ; and on the coast between Skerries and Bal-
briggan, cenanthe peticedanifoliay sulphur wort, water
dropwort, thrown in from the sea; vxiA focus dentatus^
indented fucus.

Leaving Skerries for Balduugan, the village of
Hacketstown presents itself, where was formerly the
parish chapel of Holmpatrick; near it is the secluded
demesne, twice the summer residence of the Marquis
Wellesley, when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. King
James granted this place with the small castle, three
cottages, 1 35a., and certain yearly customs, " parcel
of the estate of the then late monastery of Holm-
patrick,'* to Thomas Chatham, in fee.

At a short distance, on a swelling hill, appear the
ruined castle and church of

BALDUNGAN. 453

BALDUNQAN,

iEi conspicuous landmark for miles around it, while the
eminence itself commands an extensive prospect both
by sea and land.

The castellated remains, as described by Grose,
consisted on the west end of two square towers with a
parapet in front, covering a connecting passage. —
From these towers a regular building was carried
on each side, but narrower, to which a similar tower
was joined at the north-east angle, but at the south-
east was only a small tower with stairs leading to the
battlements. On the front were the arms of the
Lords of Howth. A few feet south-east from the
square, he adds, is a small chapel with a large chancel,
and on the west end a square steeple with stone steps
leading to the top, where there are two apertures for
bells. All the windows, doors, and openings in the
tower and church are pointed Gothic. The walls of
the church and of that part of the tower, which is
near the fabric, had perforations about four or five
inches square, probably intended for the play of mus-
quetry, on the occasion hereafter mentioned. The cas-
tie is, however, now completely wasted, and the church
alone presents some traces of die description. The
aisle is about twenty-fi^ve yards long, by six and a half
broad. There is a cemetery adjacent, in which are
several tombstones, but none worthy of note.

The parish is in the deanery of Garristown, and
comprises 857a. 3r, Up., in the one denomination.

454 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

The rectory is wholly impropriate in the Earl of
Howth, who is also the chief proprietor of the soil.
Rent here varies from £2 to £2 10^. per acre, wages
being about tenpence per day. There is neither
church, glebe-house, nor glebe in the parish. Its po-
pulation in 1831 was eighty-eight persons, all Catho-
lics, according to the Report of 18S5, while the Poor
Inquiry Report of the same year states die number
of its labourers as 400, of whom 100 are permanently
employed, 240 occasionally, and sixty almost always
unemployed. But, as this return is utterly inconsistent
with the total population of Baldungan, it must have
inadvertently included some other parish, probably
Holmpatrick, which in the Catholic dispensation is
united with Baldungan.

A considerable portion of Baldungan was, soon after the Eng-
lish invasion, acquired by the Knights Templars, who establish-
ed there a religious house which they dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin. This chiqpel the Archbishop of Dublin afterwards granted
to the religious house of Kilbixy. See " Balrothery'' at the year
1200.

On the suppression of the Templars Reginald de BerneTal
(Barnewall) became seised of the lands of Baldungan, from whose
family they passed, by marriage, to the de Berminghams, while
the chapelry was tributary to the church of Lusk, the advowsoa
being io the latter family.

In the beginning of the sixteenth century this was the seat of
Bichard de Bermingham, Elsq., whose sister and heiress, Anne,
was married to Sir Christopher St. Lawrence, Lord of Howth^
by which marriage the estate, with the advowson of the churchy
passed into that family. It, however, continued to be held fos
some time as of the Bamewalls* manor of Balrothery.

For notices of the church in 1530, see at " Lusk,** and in
1532, see at " Bahothery.''

BALDUNGAN. 455

In 1539 the Rectory of Baldungan was taxed to the First
Fruits at £3 13«. 4d^ and the vicarage at £11 I9s, lld,y Irish.

In 1591 a recovery was suffered to the use of the St. Law-
rence family, of " the manor" with the town and lands of Baldun-
gan.

In 1612 Robert Bamewall of Dunbroe, and John Cusack of
Cosinstown, were seised in fee of the manor, &c. of Baldungan,
with th^ appurtenances, one castle,, six messuages, and 800a., with
Balleston, 80a., Leyton, 60a., &c.

The regal visitation of 1615 reports this as a small rectory, of
the annual value of twenty marks, that Thomas Wood was then
the incumbent, that the church and chancel were wholly rujnous,
and the pro6ts of the living therefore sequestered.

In 1641 Thomas Fitz William, who seems to have been the
lessee of .Lord Howth, fortified and held out this castle for the
tonfederates of the Pale against the parliamentary forces. It was
ultimately surrendered when the greater part of the fortifications-
yv9S blown up with gunpowder. Cromwell is said to have 8ubse«
quently battered the remains from his ships, but it appears somewhat
problematical, from the intervening distance, that any such event
could have occurred, at least from sea. The Husseys soon after-
wards acquired a derivative interest in Baldungan, and in 1663
the right of Matthias Hussey therein, after his father^s death, was
decreed and saved in the patent of Sir Thomas Wharton, while
Lord Howth, having shewn that he had not participated in the
war of 1641, was restored to his full rights herein.

The circumstances, under which the first view. of
Baldungan brd^e upon the author's notice, caoiiot be
forgotten. It was at the earliest dawn of the inorn-
ing, and from the ascent of that hill which has been
noted under the martial appellation of the Man of
War. Looking eastward the valleys to the sea wore a
singularly interesting appearance, filled so entirely with
the morning mists that all seemed one sheet of water,
from whose bosoin^ calmly majestic, rose the summits

456 COUNTY OF DUBLIN,

as of island hills basking in the first beams of day.
By degrees a gentle gale shifted the vapours that
curtained the lowland, the scenery broke from this
hoary chaos, and first the massy walls and towers of
Baldungan kindled in the early light upon a neigh-
bouring eminence. In flitting succession every hill
threw off its whitening shroud even to the base,
chasms opening in the valleys expanded to the enthu-
siastic gaze, until at length, all undrawn, every rock,
every promontx)ry of the coast was distinctly defined,
beyond which the billows of the Irish sea danced in a
boundless expanse of wavy light.

The road from Baldungan to Balrothery is hilly,
and commands fine views of land and sea from
Clogher Head to Howth. Passing Milverton, a great
portion of which was in the seventeenth century the
estate of Viscount Fitz Harding, having been for-
feited by William Treves and John Arthure in the
war of 1641, and is now the estate of Mr. James
Hans Hamilton, and the residence of Mr. Wood, an
obscure little burial-ground succeeds, called Saint
Mavie. Hampton, the handsome seat of Mr. Hamil-
ton next invites attention, and presently appear the
interesting ruins of Balrothery, and in the distance
Balbriggan whitening all the beach.

BALROTHERY

was an ancient manor of the Bamewalls, extending
over the townlands of Balruddery, Flemington, Ste-
phenstown, Corkean, Turkentown, Ballaston, Ley-

BALROTHERY. 457

ton, Newmane, PercivaPs freehold, Baldungan, &c.
The common of the Ring here comprises thirty acres,
and is partly composed of bog, on which the tenants
of the town have still common of turbary.

The village, which, before the diversion of the
great northern road into the Ashbourne line, was
much more prosperous, presents a long, straggling,
ruinous range of cabins, that are let without land
each for about £1 10^. per annum. At the nearer
end of the town, on a commanding height, are some
fine ruins of the old church, presenting a square
steeple with one angular rounded tower, somewhat
resembling that adopted in the architecture of Lusk
church. The church here is a plain modem addition
to this steeple, and contains no monuments. Near
it is a glebe of nineteen acres, with a glebe-house
upon it, while there is another glebe of eleven acres
at the distance of three-quarters of a mile. In the
graveyard are monuments to the Crosthwaites, the
Moneypennies in 1743, an old vault of the Hamil-
tons, in which Baron Hamilton was interred in 1793,
&c. In the adjoining field is a portion of a square
castellated mansion. There is also an old Roman
Catholic chapel here.

Near this town, according to Doctor Rutty, be-
sides plenty of iron-mine, are several varieties of the
iron-stone which are attracted by the magnet in their
crude state. The fields about this place and Lusk
used formerly to supply the clothiers of Dublin with
the dipsacus sativus, or teasel plant, the richness of
the soil contributing greatly to its luxuriance, although

458 cjOunty of Dublin.

the heads thus produced have fewer hooks in the same
8pace» than when they shoot from a poorer soil. Those
imported from £!ngland were, however, found more
effective than the Irish, and machinery has now super-
seded all.

The parish, which includes Balbriggan, bears the
name of this village, and, as the rectory is impropriate
in the trustees of Wilson*s Hospital, it ranks as but a
vicarage in thfe gift of the Baker family. In the Ro-
' maa Catholic parochial arrangement it is united to
Balscadden. It contains 6884a. 1r. 38p. in thirty-
seven towniands, and a population which was in 183L
returned, exclusive of Balbriggan, as 2062 persons.
In the village are male and female schools, for the
support. of which the National Board have allowed
£25 per annum. The number of pupils in the
former was returned in 1834 as 206- Tlie Poor In-
quiry Report of 1835 calculates that there are 600
labourers in this parish, of whom 200 are permanently
employed, 350 occasionally, and 50 ahnost always un-
employed. It also states, what should not be omitted*
that " diis parish has been distinguished in the worst
of times for the quiet and peaceable conduct of its
inhabitants." The average acreable rent is about
£1 Ibs.f exclusive <rfthe town parks in the neigh-
bourhood of Balbriggan. The principal proprietors
are the Marquis of Lansdowne, Mr. Hamilton, Mr.'
Smith of Beau, Mr. Baker, the Hon. and Rev. Mr.
Taylor, Mr. Hutcheson, &c.

About the year 1200, the Archbishop of Dublin gave the
church of Bakothery, with the chapels of Baldungan and Lam-

BALROTUERY. 459

bedior at Bremore, and all other appurtenances, to the rel^ioas
house of the Blessed Virgin of Kilhixy, and to the canons there
aenring God, to hold same in frankalmoign* reserving an annual
rent out of the church of Balrothery to that of Lusk, in conae^
quence of which, in a few years afterwarda, this church was sot^bt
to be recovered, as an appendage to ihe rectory of Lusk; the claim
was, however, on suit moved, rejected, and the said church was
confirmed to the house of Kilbixy, together with all its appur*
tenances, and also, all the tithes of the mill of Balrothery, and a
messuage outside the walls of Dublin, near that viflage of Hogges,
on whose site College-green now stands.

In. 1205 King John, by charter, granted to the coaunonaky of
the counties of Dublin and Meath, commonage of tunbary, in the
bogs of Garristown, Balrothery, &c., to hold to them and their
successors in pure and peipetual alms, which right was actually so
enjoyed by the grantees and their successors for upivards of two
hundred years, when they cxunplained to the king that the trust
was abused by some eaercisingthe right in improper places, Jind
digging deep pits therein^ &c.

In 1262 William de ClMtonia, Prior of St. Mary's of Kilbixy,
ratified the Archbishop of Dublin's collation of John de Cambridge
to the vicarage of Balrothery, saving, however, the right of patron*
age on the decease or resignation of the said John.

Previous to the year 1S18, Sir Hugh de Lacy was possessed
of part of Bahrothery, but he having aided the Scotch invader
Bruce and his adherents, his several lands were forfeited at that
period, and those in particular were granted to Richard de Ide-
ahall, (Isdall,) and his heirs. In 1343 Richard de Constantino was
seised of the manor of Balrothery, and in 1344 Walter de Croise
paid a fine of half a mark for his father's transgression in acquiring
the manor of Balrothery, from the aforesaid Richard de Constan-
tine, without having obtained the king's license.

In 1885 the king presented John Gifiard, clerk, to this living.
Soon afterwards Robert Burnell, an ancestor of that ancient family
which afterwards settled at Balgriffin, held in fee half the barony
of Bahrothery. In 1402 the king granted Balrothery and certain
other lands in the barony, to^ Richard Cloptoun. In 1410 l^rs

460 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Christopher Preston and Edward Ferrers were assigned to overset
the aforesaid bogs of Garrbtown, Balrothery, &c.

In 1415 the king granted the custody of all the manors^ lands,
&c^ which Catherine, then late wife of Reginald BarnewaU, held
in Drymnagh, Ballyfermot, Tyrenure, Bahrothery, icc^ to be held
during the minority of said Reginald's heir. And in the same
year, Nicholas Hill, Archdeacon of Dublin, and vicar of this
church, had the royal licende to absent himself from Ireland for
four years, to remain at the Court of Rome, and during the in-
terval receive the profits of his ecclesiastical preferments, without
incurring the penalties then incident upon non-residence. He
was subsequently promoted to the deanery of St. Patrick's. For
a notice of Balrothery in 1530, see ** Lusk."

In 1532 the church was found to be tributary to Balro-
thery, which latter was at the same time recognised as a per-*
petual vicarage appertaining to the Prior of Tristemagh, and
in a few years afterwards was valued to the First Fruits at
£11 19f. lOd. The precentor and treasurer of St. Patrick's
cathedral, Dublin, used at this time to receive a pension of £6 in
moieties out of this benefice from the farmers of the tithes. An
inquisition of 1562 ascertains the rights of the Prior of Trister-
nagh in this parish, in lands, glebes, and tithes. The extent and
value of the latter are thus specified : — " The tithes of com in the
townland of Ballymoone, and its subdenominations of Cusack's
farm, Burnell's land, Pippard's land, Argillan, Bangyrath, Baltra,
and Ley ton, annual value, besides reprises, £11 ; the tithes of
great Folkston, and little Folkstone, £4 ; Cloghrudder, and Tan-
kardstown, £2 2s. ; Balbriggan, £2 ; Darcystown, and the great
farm of Curdagh, £6 ; Knockingen, Flemingstown, and Harbards-
town, six shillings, &c. The hospital of St. John of Jerusalem had
also some landed possessions within this parish, as then similarly
ascertained. Balrothery was then accounted amongst ** the walled
and good towns" of this county. For a notice of the possessions
of the Plunkett family here in 1582, see at *< Dunsoghly."

In 1590 all the estates of the religious house of Tristernagh,
including Balrothery, were leased and subsequently granted to
Captain Piers, while in 1600 Thomas Ram, Bishop of Ferns and

BALROTHERY* 46l

Leighlidy held its vicarage in commendam, vacant by the death of
Richard Thompson, and in 1610 the king presented Ralph Kier-
nan thereto, who was succeeded in the following year by James
Clarke, and Clarke in 1613 by Thomas Fagher. For a notice of
the possessions of the Plunketts here in 1611, see at << Dubber/'

The regal visitation book of 1615 returns Balrothery as a rec-
tory impropriate to the priory of Tristernagh, its vicarage being
of the value of. £30, and filled by Thomas Fagher, and adds that
the church and chancel were in good repair.

In 1622 the king presented John Bynes to this vicarage with
that of Kilsallaghan. In both of which he was succeeded in 1625
by Robert Worrall. For a notice in 1629 of the Fagan property
jiere, see at << Kilmainham."

In 1625 Peter Barnewall was seised in fee taU of the manor of
Balrothery, the town of Ballymad, four messuages, sixty acres,
&c. For a notice in 1637, see " Lough Shinny/*

In 1641 the right of holding three annual fairs and a weekly
market was conceded to this town, and in the same year Sir
Henry Tichburne, having received notice from the Lords Justices
that a reinforcement sent to him from Dublin was likely to be at-
tacked on the way by the rebels, marched out of Drogheda with
a competent force to meet them ; they, however, mutinied at
Balrothery, and would proceed no farther.

In. 1647 an engagement took place here, which is commemo-
rated in an ancient manuscript, entitled << a bloody fight at Bal.
ruddery," though possibly it was only one of those conflicts of
petty faction, which, until very recently, were of too frequent oc-
currence over the country.

la 1665 the sheriff of the county of Dublin was by a vote of
the house of commons ordered to restore to his Royal Highness,
James Duke of York, the possession of the lands of Dromore,
Cloghruddery, part of Babuddery, Ballyscadden, &C., of which
liis Grace had been unjustly disseised by the ter-tenants.

In 1666 Knockingen, 185a., Knock, 69a., part of Balrothery,
30a., Leyton, 133a., Turkinstown, 56a., Castleland, 43a., Rath,
143a., Blackball, 98a., Stephenstown, 233a., &c., plantation mea-
sure, were granted by patent to the aforesaid James Duke of
York by that infamous policy, which, on the restoration enriched

468 COUKTY QP DUBLIN.

the sons of the marfyred king« with the estates which their mu
cient proprietors forfeited with their lives in his service ;

** The gallant cavaliers, who fought in vain
For those who knew not to resign or reign."

In 1669 Lord Gormanston had a grant of the Inch of Balro-
thery, 61a. profitahle, and 19a. unprofitable, plantation measure.
For a notice of Balrothery in 1697, see post, at " Balscadden.'*

In 1700 Robert Lord Lucas claimed an estate in fee in Balro-
thery, as also in 50a. in Rathcoole, with other lands, in right of a
patent thereof in 1674 to Sir Edward Sutton, and which were for-
feited by King James ; his claim was, however, disaUowed. In
1703 the trustees of the forfeited estates sold to Sir Robert Ech-
lin all those lands in the parish stated to have been granted to
James Duke of York, and which were forfeited on his attainder*
For a notice in 1718, see at " Balbriggan."

There are in the Consistorial Court of Dublin two terriers of
1753 and 1783, respectively defining the rights and endowment
of the vicarage of Balrothery.

In 1811 the Board of First Fruits granted £250, and lent
£550 more towards building the glebe-house here, and in 1813 the
same body lent £1000 towards building the church.

In sbady places about Balrothery the botanist will
find lathrasa squamaria^ greater toothwort, flower-
ing early in May. — In the adjacent drains and bog
pits, alisma natans, floating water plantain, a scarce
and curious plant, stretching its ovate leaves over the
water ; hydrocharis morsus rance^ frogbit. — While
between this and Balbriggan, chara flexilis^ smooth
chara, and the marsh mallow, are singularly abund-
ant

Proceeding, amidst the perfume of hawthorn blos-
soms, towards Balbriggan, Hampton Hall, the resi-
dence of Mr. George Alexander Hamilton, and Pros-

«Ai;BftW30AK* 468

peet, formerly a seat of the Earl of Bectire^ appear
at right between the road and the sea, while at led
are the mills of Stephenstown, and the head and race^
trhich at times pour their superfluous waters in a lit^
tie cataract through the town of

BALBRIGGAN,

more anciently called Ballybriggen, into which the
village of Balrothery appears to glide imperceptibly.

Balbriggati has been a very thriving place, but,
by the decline of the cotton factories, the withdraw-
ing of the fishery bounties, and the diversion of the
great Northern road, the advantages, which its pro-
prietors zealously laboured to promote, have been con-
siderably impeded. Its population was returned in
1831 as 3016 persons. Strictly, it constituted a cha^
pelry in the deanery of Garristown, impropriate in
the Hamilton family. It ranks, however, in common
parlance, as a townland in the parish of Balrothery,
both in the Catholic and Protestant dispensations.

A very handsome church was founded here in
1813 at an expense of £3018, of which the sum of
£1400 was given by the Board of First Fruits, £478
raised by voluntary contributions, as Mr. G. A. Ha-
milton states, from the Roman Catholics and Protest-
ants of the neighbourhood, and the remainder was
the free gift of the Reverend George Hamilton and
his family. That gentleman also settled an endow-
ment for the curate. The edifice constructed in these
kindly and liberal feelings was accidentally burned in

464 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

1833, but is now in progress of being rebuilt, the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners having granted £480
in aid of the object. There is no graveyard attached,
the parochial burial ground being at Balrothery, but
under the church is the family vault of the Hamiltons
of Hampton. There is here also an old Roman Ca-
tholic chapel, and an extensive modem one, on a new
site, will probably be finished before these sheets are
printed.

A parliamentary report of 1826 states two schools
as then existing here, at one of which eighty-seven
Roman Catholic boys and one Presbyterian were edu-
cated, each scholar paying from one penny to four-
pence per week, and in the other forty-seven Roman
Catholic girls and three Presbyterian, to the mistress
of which the parish priest allowed £3 per annum and
a ton of coals. There was also another school re-
ported at the same time as existing in Balrothery-
street where twenty-four Protestant and ten Catho-
lic children were educated, and to which the Rev.
Mr. Hamilton and the Rev. Mr. Baker contributed
£5 each.

The town appears built on as many hills as old
Rome itself, the only good street, however, for pri-
vate residence, is George-street. House rent and
lodgings are unreasonably high in price, while the
markets are dear and scantily supplied. A crescent
of bathing villas would be extremely likely to suc-
ceed here, and to offer ulterior consequent advan-
tages for the outlay of capital, nor is it improbable
that before long, on the construction of the proposed

BALDRIQGAN. 465

Drogheda Railway, and under the auspices of such a
proprietor as Mr. G. A. Hamilton, these speculations
may be fully realized. A small stream, which turns
several flour mills, empties itself through the town
into the sea, which here presents a fine bathing
shore.

The harbour is the only place of shelter, for ves-
sels exposed to severe weather, between the bays of
Dublin and Carlingford, and, as it is all clear ground
and soft sand, a vessel in a storm from east, without
anchor or cable, may venture to run herself aground
within it, at least when there is sufficient water, which
within the pier head is about fourteen feet at high
water springs, but it is all dry at low water. The
pier is a rough mole projecting into the sea about
600 feet, with a lofty wall eighteen feet thick at its
base, and protected on the outside by a considerable
rampart of great rocks, to defend it from the waves.
It was built by the late Baron Hamilton at an ex-
pense of about £15,000 of which £1500 was grant-
ed to him by the Irish parliament in 1761, and
£3752 in 1765. About the year 1829 an inner
dock, or harbour, was constructed at a cost of about
£3000, of which £1314 7*. 9d. was granted by
the late Irish Fishery Board, £100 by the Marquis
of Lansdowne, and the remainder defrayed' by the
late Rev. George Hamilton, then proprietor. His
son, Mr. George A. Hamilton, has also expended
considerable sums in supporting and improving the
structure. The Ballast Board have built an excel-
lent light-house on the pier head, and at the opposite

2 H

466 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

«ide of the creek is a Msrteno tower. WSkhin tKtt
liurbour ships of two hundred tons can unload, and
lu^cordingly such vessels do carry in here slates, ceal%
and culm from Wales, also rock salt and bark, while
It^ exports are com and cattle, and the quay is &ei^
quently completely occupied with such craft; In
Staking die harbour from the northward by nighty care
'must be taken to aroid the Carjoe rock, which iiet
U>0Qt a 'mile from the pier.

The BaUast Board collect the harbour dues ondef
Obe authority of the acts of parliament, 26 Geo. 3, c;
'19; 3« <jpeo. 3, ^. 26, s. 9 ; and 32 Geo. 8, c. 35, 9.
65 ; Under the provision thi^ the sums so collected
ahafl be laid out in the repairs and improvement of
the respective ports. The dues collected here are
vikjience per tdnon the regifijtered tonnage of each
trader landing ^oods in the port, one penny per ton
Ak the support of the quay walls, and Is. 8d. per
ton for every tcm of ballast taken. The repairs are
•teecnted under die direction and superintendence of
l)he Hamilton fionily, whereby an obvious and sen-
vioeable check is reciprocally created. How more
than faithfuUy^ the funds have been applied appears
from tiie tots of' the last return, furnished by Mr. G.
A. Hamilton as for seven years, commencing in Jar
nuary, 1827.

£ s. di
Expended, in that interval, in the repairs of Bal-

briggan harbour 2387 1 6

Received, during same, under the authority of said

acts, 1740 1 6

Expended by the Hamilton family, over and above

the receipts 647

. BALBRIQGAN. 467

In 1&29 the tonnage of the vessels employed here
was reported as 2513, and the number of the fisher-
men as 863. In the following year the number of
.fishermen employed from this port increased to 934,
while the report of the last year on the Irish Fishe*
ries states only twelve boats, of from twenty-five to
fifty-seven tons burden, engaged here, each employ*-
ifig six or eight men. Besides the cotton mills, here-
after alluded to, there is also a salt work here, which
does a great deal of business.

A regular vein of sparry micaceous stone, fit for
the manufacture of pure crystal glass, has been dis-
covered here, also a small vein of copper and sul*
phur by that indefatigable mineralogist Donald Stew^
art*

The records of this locality are so identified with those of
Balrothery, already enumerated, that few remain for notice here*

In 1635 Peter Barnewall was seised in fee tail, of two mes-
suages and 40a. here, which he held of the king in capite by knight'«
service.

On the drd of July, 1690, King William encamped here after
the battle of the Boyne.

In 1700 Thomas Baker ckimed a leasehold interest in 60a.
here, part of the forfeitures of the Earl of Tyrconnel, and his
claim was allowed; while in 1703 James Kiernan of Dublin ob-
tained a grant of Little Balbriggan, and the mill, 60a. Stc, which
had been also the estate of Richard then late Earl of Tyrconnel
attainted, and previously granted by said Earl to Viscount 6ydney>
and sold by him in 1698 to said Kiernan.

In 1718 the Barnewall property in Balbriggan and Balrothery
was purchased by Alexander, the son of Hugh Hamilton of Eri-
nagh and Ballybrenagh, in the County of Down, firom whom it
has lineally descended to the present proprietor.

In 1780 Baron Hamilton, then proprietor of this pUce, esta-

2h2

468 COUNTY OF DUBLIN*

hiisbed extensive cotton works here, for the promotion of which
parliament granted the sum of £1250 ; but it was in some years
afterwards nearly abandoned for the hosiery manufacture. Two
cotton works, however, revived here ; one having a forty-eight
horse power with 8060 spindles, capable of producing SOOOlbs.
of twist per week, and employing about 110 persons; the other
having a thirty-six horse power, with 4452 spindles, capable of
producing 44001bs. of twist per week, employing 205 persons. Both
these existed until recently, when one stopped ; the surviving con-
cern employs about 100 persons of both sexes and all ages. In
reference to the hosiery business, Mr. Hamilton states, that there
are factories here capable of producing sixty dozen of stockings
in the week, while there are also 942 looms in the town and
neighbourhood for the weaving of calicoes, cords, and checks.

The Dublin Chronicle of August 18th, 1791, contains a very
vivid description of a perambulation of the franchises of this town,
which had been then recently celebrated. It describes the pa-
geant as classified in six bodies, the tailors, smiths, weavers, butch-
ers, brewers, and spinners, attended by their carriages, in which
were displayed the practical operations of the several fabrics of
the town.

In 1795 Earl Fitz William landed at Balbriggan, to assume
the government of Ireland.

The student of nature will find here in the hedges,
or on the adjacent sandy places, cynoglossum st/lvati"
cuniy green-leaved hound's-tongue, a very disagreeably
scented plant ; arenaria peploidesy sea sandwort ; ce-
rastium semidecandrum^ little mouse-ear chickweed ;
gUmcum luteum^ yellow-horned poppy ; sonchits (or-
vensiSf com sow thistle. — In the fields, cichorhtm
intt/bus, wild succory, with its broad succulent leaves,
but as the stems become hard with age, it is unfit to
be made into hay : the flowers, which appear in July
and August, are of a fine blue colour. This plant is
much used in France as a salad ; while the roots, cut

BALBUIGGAN. 469

into small pieces, aiid slightly roasted, are employed
as a substitute for coflPee in some parts of Germany ;
and in Belgium, a portion of chichory is generally
mixed with coflPee-beans. — In the marshes, apium
graveolens, wild celery : and, on the adjacent shorcy
pulmonaria maritima^ sea \\xiigviort\fuctis aculeatiis^
prickly fucus \ fucus plicatus^ matted fucus; atriplex
lavinicUa, frosted sea orache, &c. : while, in reference
to its conchology, the bulla hydatisj the helix cin-
gendoy and the serpula granulata have been found on
the surrounding shore.

In the immediate vicinity of Balbriggan is Hamp-
ton Hall, before alluded to, the residence of George
Alexander Hamilton, Esq. It extends along, the
shore from Balbriggan to Skerries, contains about
500 acres, is well wooded, greatly diversified with hill
and valley ; and, through vistas of the woods, com-
mands sea views of exceeding beauty. The house,
which was erected by Baron Hamilton, is a handsome
building ; the pleasure-grounds and hot-houses exten-
sive.

Although the noble family of " Hamilton" is not
strictly connected by ancient tenure with the last
mentioned locality, yet has it been for upwards of a
century wedded to Balbriggan with the more morally
gratifying, and, in Ireland, unfortunately rare distinc-
tion, of giving to its inhabitants an inheritance of
landlords, who, amidst all the discouragements of Irish
trade, and dissensions of Irish society, have laboured
to maintain the prosperity and happiness of their te-
nantry. The following memoir of

470 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

The Family op Hamilton

may therefore, it is hoped, be here allowed as a tribute, which the
writer will be ever rejoiced to pay where claimed by such honour-
able services.

This illustrious house claims to derive its origin from Bernard,
a noble of the blood royal of Saxony, second in command to
Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy, in 876. Humphrey, the great
grandson of this nobleman, lived in the eleventh century, founded
and endowed the Abbey of Preaux, in Normandy, and was there
buried. His son, Roger de Beaumont, was one of the council
who persuaded William the Conqueror to invade England : and
his son Robert married the grand-daughter of Henry the First, King
of France, commanded the right wing of the Duke of Normandy
at the battle of Hastings, and was created Earl of Leicester in
1103. Robert, the third Earl of Leicester, grandson of the first,
died and was buried in Greece, on his return from the Holy
Land in 1190 ; and his sister, it may he remarked, having been
married to the Earl of Pembroke, was mother of Strongbow, the
invader of Ireland. The eldest son of this last named Robert
died without issue $ his second son, Roger, was Bishop of Saint
Andrews; and his third son, William, having been born at Ham-
bledon or Hamilton, in Leicestershire, took the surname ^'de
Hamilton" from that place, and was the more especial stock of the
widely diffused families of that name. About the year 1215,
having gone into Scotland to visit his sister, who was married to
the Earl of Winton, he was there well received by the Scottish
king, under whose favour he settled in that country, and inter-
married with the daughter and representative of the Earl of Stra-
thern. His son. Sir Gilbert, married Isabella, the niece to King
Robert Bruce, the issue of which marriage Sir Walter, or perhaps
more correctly, Sir William Hamilton, particularly distinguished
himself at Bannockburn, where he received the honour of knight-
hood under the banner on the field.

His son. Sir Gilbert, having spoken honourably of the great
merits of Robert Bruce, in the court of Edward King of England

THE. FAMILY OF HAMILTON. 471

hk 13^5, receifed an insult from J oho dc Spencer wlitch led, to i
rencontre in which the latter felL Hamilton thereupon, appre^
bensive of court influence and resentment against him, fled to
Scotland. In thib his ffight being closelj pursued into a forest,-
he mud. his sen'ant chatiged clothes with two wood cutters, and
taking their saw were cutting through an oak tree when their pur-*
iuen came up. Perceiving his servant's attention too much fixed
i^pon them, he hastily reminded him of his assumed duty by the
word ** through V rebuked by which presence of mind the servant
renevffed his work, the pursuers passed on unsuspecting, and Siv
Gilbert adopted the call ** through" with the oak tree and saw a»
bt$ motto and crest. Soon after his arrival in Scotland he obtained
a gnmt of the barony of Cadzow, in Lanark^ire,, theniceforth!
called Hamilton.

lo 1346 Sir David Hambleton of Cadsow, accompanied King
David Bruce to the battle of Durham, where he was taken prisoner
with his royal master^ but soon after ransomed* He was subse-
quently one of the Magnates Scotis, who assembled at Scobe to.
acknowledge John Earl of Carrioky eldest son of King Robert the
Second, undoubted heir of the crown.

In 1357 the earliest mention of the name appear^ to occur in
Ireland, when the king committed the custody of the manor of
Prongan, during the minority of its heir, to Thomas de Hamilton.*
In 1455 Sir John Hamilton, grandson of the befbre-men-;
tioned Sir David of Cadzow, was joined with the Earl of Angus
hi the command of the royal army on the memorable occasion
when the Earl of Douglas was totally routed. In 1474 Sir James
HatnilioD, Lord Hamilton of Cadzow, a lineal descendant of WiU
ham de Hamilton who first assumed the name, was married to
the Princess Mary, eldest daughter of James the Second, King ol
Scotland. His daughter married the Earl of Lennox and Darn-'
ley, and was ancestress of James the First of England.

James Hamilton, second Earl of Arran, was Regent of Scot-
land in 1543, &c. during the minority of Queen Mary, was declared
next to her the second person in the kingdom, and was created
Duke of Chattelherault by Henry the Second of France.

In 1608 Hans Hamilton, the Uneal descendant of the Lords
of Cadiow, died minister of Dunlop in Scothnd. His eldest son.

472 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

James Hamilton was the first of the fiimily who settled in Iralaiid
in hb father's life-time, having been sent thither with Janes FhI-
lerton by James the Sixth, afterwards the First of England, to
encourage hb adherents and secure hb interest in Ireland ; the
more prudently to effectuate which, and to conceal the real mo-
tives of their mission, they assumed the character and office of
school-masters, and actually presided over that grammar achool
at which Primate Usher received hb early education, and iron
which he entered Trinity College under said Hamilton, then a
Fellow of that university. On the accession of King James to the
crown of England, he rewarded thb his agent's services by exten-
sive grants of lands in the County Down, and conferred on him
successively the honor of knighthood and the titles of Viscount
Claneboy and Earl of Clanbrassil, which titles became extinct by
the failure of his line in his grandson. Viscount Claneboy also
acquired considerable estates in the County Louth, by assignment
from Sir Nicholas Bagnal ; and having invited his brothers from
Scotland to participate in the advantages which his rank, property,
and influence gave him in Ireland, ^ve of them came over accord-
ingly hither. Of these Archibald, the second son of Hans Hamil-
ton of Dnnlop, became the ancestor of the Hamiltons of Killi-
leagh and Killough ; Gawen, the third son of Hans, was ancestor
of Robert Hamilton of the Carragh of Kildare. John Hamilton,
the fourth son of Hans, settled in Armagh ; he married Sarah,
daughter of Sir Anthony Brabazon, and was the ancestor of the
lines of Mount Hamilton in the County of Carlow, of Sheep Hill
in the County of Dublin, and Rock Hamilton in the County of
Down. William Hamilton, fifth son of the Rev. Hans, was an-
cestor to the Hamiltons of Bangor, Tyrella, Balbriggan,(of whom
hereafter,) and Tollymore, as was Patrick Hamilton of the Hamil-
tons of Granshaw and Mount Clithero, some of whom returned
to Scotland, while others are yet established in the barony of
Ardes.

Early in the aforesaid reign of James the First, another James
Hamilton, grandson of the Earl of Arran, having been created
Baron of Abercorn, and soon afterwards Baron of Hamihon,
Mount Castle, and Kilpatrick, and Earl of Abercorn, had summons
under the same designations to the Irish House of Peers. He also

THE FAMILY OF HAMILTOX. 47i)

obtained a large grant of lands in the Barony of Strabane and
County of Tyrone, whereon he built a castle, church, school-house,
and town. Con Q 'Neili is recorded to have consented to this
gift of a portion of his immemorial inheritance, in consideration
of a pardon granted to him by the king at the suit of said James
Hamilton. Sir William Hamilton had also, about the same time,
large grants in the said county, which were in 1631 declared for-
feited to the crown, by reason of said Sir William haying demised
^e same to '< mere Irish," contrary to the conditions of his let-
ters patent. In 1615 James Hamilton of Keckton acquired the
manor of Drumka with the islands in the County of Fermanagh,
which he afterwards sold to John Archdall, who took out a fresh
patent for same ; while about that time Robert Hamilton, Esq.
acquired considerable estates in the said county ; and Sir Gaude
Hamilton was seised of upwards of 3000 acres in the County
Cavan, as were other members of this family of different tracts
therein.

In 1618 James, the second Earl .of Abercorn, was created
Lord Hamilton, Baron of Strabane, which honour was, however,
on his lordship's petition, transferred to his next brother the Hon.
Claude Hamilton. In 1623 Malcolm Hamilton, a native of Scot-
land, and Chancellor of Down, was consecrated Archbishop of
CasheL In 1626 Sir George Hamilton acquired a most valuable
interest in lands in the county of Donegal, but forfeited same by
not taking the oath of supremacy.

In 1630 the Marquis of Hamilton commanded a force of Bri-
tish auxiliaries in the service of the King of Sweden. In 1640
Thomas Hamilton, second E^rl of Haddington, having actively
espoused the cause of the Covenanters, was blown up in the castle
of Douglas, (of which he was governor,) with several of his kindred
and adherents.

In 1642 Captain William Hamilton was one of those who
aided in the defence of Drogheda.

In 1648 James Duke of Hamilton fell a sacrifice to his loyalty,
and was beheaded, while his brother William, who succeeded to
the title, was slain at the battle of Worcester in 1661.

In 1660 James, the third Baron of Strabane, having adhered
to Sir Phelim O'Neill, held the fort of Charlemont against the
usurping powers, and on its capture fled to the woods of Monter-

474 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

tUfl(g in the county of Tjroiid, where he wl» taken prisoiier. His
V«8i etiitates were thereupon coofiscaled, and the possession thereof
given in 1657 to Edward Roberts^ Esq., his Highoessfs Auditor
C09er«L Amongst those who sought redress from the Court ei
CUAi09y in consequence of the Iriaii forfeitures of this period, were
^r Francb Hamilton for lands in the counties of Cavan and An*
trim, Sir George Hamilton in Tyrone, Kildaiv, Clare, and Cork,
James Hamilton in Monaghan, Roscommon, and Meath, Captain
William Hamilton in Longford, Down, and Tyrone; and Sir Hans
(the son of William before mentioned as the ancestor of the. Bal^
hriggan hue) for lands in the county of Down, of one of wbofe
boroughs, KiUileagli, he was the representative in parliament.

In 1659 Archibald Hamilton of Ballygally in the county of
Tyrone, died seised in fee of upwards of 1200 acres in the county
of Tyrone. In 1660 Sir Francis Hamilton was one of the com*
mistfiouers appointed for putting into execution the king^s decla*
ration, as afterwards embodied in the Act of Settlement, and in
the same year, Hugh Hamilton was created Baron of Glenawly
in the county of Antrim.

In 1667 George Count Hamilton commanded an Irish regi^
ment in the service of Louis the Fourteenth, and was engaged ia
the campaigns of 1673 and 1674 under Marshal Turenne. He
particularly distinguished himself at the battles of Sentsheim and
Entsheim, and as the French writers say, «< se surpassa" at the
battle of Altenheim. In 1674, when Turenne fell in his last cam-
paign by a cannon boll, the French army was saved from utter
destruction by the intrepidity of this gallant gentleman. The cir-
cumstance is detailed with such force and interest by Mr. Matthew
O'Conor in the following passage of his recently published **• Fie*
turesque and Historical Recollections of Switzerland, &c., as may
more than justify the extract : — « At Sabbach, Montecucoli's bat^
talions fell back on a defile; Turenne, imagining that he had
obtained an advantage, advanced to reconnoitre, and a cannon^
ball terminated his earthly career. The French army might be
compared to a ship that had foundered, her sails flapping, her
masts shattered, the sport of the winds and the waves, without any
destination. The French colours fluttered, at times advanced,
then feU back ; while irresolution and dismay marked the move-
ments of their army. The eagle-eyo of Montecucoli at once

THE FAMILY OP HAMILTON. 475

penetrated into these convulsive motions : ike soul of the French
aroiy had perished. He recalled his battalions, and his cavalry
were ordered to the charge, the courage and conduct of one man
^aved the French from irreparyble defeat. Hamilton, an Irishman^
the brother of the author of the • Memoirs of Grammont,' of the
noble family of Sirabane, who had been bani^ed by Whig bigotry
from the court of Charles the Second, on account of his Popish
creed, advanced and covered the retreat. Two Irish regiments
sustained and repulsed the charge of the imperial catrassiers, and
during ten successive days bore the brunt of the attacks made by
the imperial cavalry, until the greater part of the French had re-
crossed the Rhine. The German infantry was unable to come up
Ivith the retreating army. At Altenheim, the Irish and some
French battalions withstood the shock of the imperial army, and
ultimately effected their retreat. In the military annals of France,
there is not a prouder day than that of Altenheim* The fame of
Turenne has been imisortalized by the poets and historians of the
eighteenth oentury, and expanded by the glories of the age of
Louis the Fourteenth. The renown of Montecucoli is narrowed
to the study of his campaigns ; but, as long as the sdence of war
occupies the cares of mankind, his name will not sank in obUvtoUi
and he will rank with the great men of his own country, — the
Colonnas, the Farneses, the Spinolas, and the princes of the house
pf Savoy." In 1676 this Count Hamilton made the campaign under
Marshal de Luxembourg, but on the march towards Saverne, was
killed in the neighbourhood of Zebernsteeg, with a great number
of the three regiments he commanded, and but for whose gallant
conduct the French would, as on the former occasion, have been
entirely cut to pieces.

In 1688 Richard Hamilton, a Roman Catholic General, the
fifih son of George Hamilton of Donalong in the County Tyrone,
an eitainent officer in the service of Charles the First, and who
had himself served with considerable reputation in France, but
was banished on account of his imprudent addresses to the king's
daughter, the Princess of Conti ; was afterwards engaged in the
service of King James in Ireland, and at the battle of the Boyne
led the Irish itifmitry to the very maurgin of the river to expose
the passage of the French and English. He was taken prisoner
on that occasion at the last charge. So great a majority, how«

476 COUNTV OP DUBLIN.

ever, of the Hamiltons espoused the cause of Kin^ William, that no
le^ than forty six of the name were attainted or otherwise proscribed
in King James's parliament of 1689. In that parliament Claude
Hamilton, the fifth Baron of Strabane, was one of the sitting
Roman Catholic peers. He attended King James from France,
and would Have returned thither after the battle of the Boyne^
but perished in the voyage; the estates and title of Strabane
having been forfeited by his previous outlawry, were, however,
restored to his brother Charles.

At the' same period Captain James Hamilton, a kinsman of
the said Baron Strabane, who had been for a time in the ser-
vice and confidence of James the Second, espoused the cause if
William, and took a distinguished part for him at the siege of
Londonderry. He afterwards succeeded to the Earldom of
Abercorn, but continuing to reside in Ireland was created Barod
Mountcastle and Viscount Strabane. Gustavus Hamilton, a
grandson of Lord Paisley, having also distinguished himself in the
service of King William at Aughrim and the Boyne, and yet more
especially by *^ wading through the Shannon and storming the
tower of Athlone at the head of the English grenadiers," received
a grant of 5382 acres in this country, and was in 1714 created
Baron Hamilton of Stackallan, and in 1717 raised to the Viscounty
of Boyne. The names of Andrew Hamilton and two John Ha-
miltons occur in the signatures of the relieved garrison of Derry,
in the address to King William, while George Hamilton, fifth son
of the Earl of Selkirk, distinguished himself with particular
bravery at the battle of the Boyne under the same monarch, at
Aughrim in 1691, at Steinkirk in 1692, and at Lauden in the fol-
lowing year; for all which and other military achievements he
was in 1695 advanced to the peerage as Earl of Orkney, and
had grants of a considerable proportion of the estates of King James
in Ireland. In 1704 he acquitted himself heroically at the battle
of Blenheim ; in 1706 was at the siege of Menin ; in 1708 com-
manded the van of the army at the passing of the Scheld ; assisted
at the siege of Tournay ; was at the battle of Malplaquet, and
rendered numerous other services, which were rewarded with a
succession of honours to the time of his death in 1736.

In 1691 Henry Hamilton of Baillieborough, was killed on the
walls of Limerick. From him is descended, in the fourth degree,

THE FAMILY OF HAMILTON. 477

James Hans Hamiltoiiy Esq. of Sheep Hill, a deputy lieutenant
of the County of Dublin.

In 1720 died at St. Germain's the accomplished Anthony
Count Hamilton, author of the Memoirs of Grammont, (who
had married his sister,) and for many years the delight and orna-
ment of the most splendid circles of society. He was a native
of Ireland, whence he passed over with his family to France as
adherents of Charles the Second. At the Restoration he again
returned to England, but was, on the Revolution, a second time
obliged to fly to the Continent. In the time of King James he
obtained a regiment of foot in Ireland, and the government of
Limerick, whence, on the abdication, he returned into France, and
devoted himself to literary pursuits. He was brother of the gal-
lant individual, before-mentioned as having made the campaigns
with Turenne and Luxembourg, both having been the sons of
Sir George Hamilton by Mary Butler, sister of the Duke of
Ormonde.

In 1730 the Princess of Orange stood sponsor for the infant
daughter of James Hamilton, Earl of Clanbrassil, who in 1752
married the Earl of Roden, and on the death of her brother with-
out issue the Clanbrassil estates passed through her to the Roden
family.

From the year 1739 to the year 1760 Alexander Hamilton,
the purchaser of Balbriggan, and the lineal descendant in the fifth
degree from the Rev. Hans Hamilton of Dunlop, was the repre-
sentative in parliament of the borough of Killileagh. He was
succeeded in the property of Balbriggan by his son the Hon. George
Hamilton, who was member of parliament for Belfast, Solicitor Ge-
neral, and Baron of the Exchequer; and yet more distinguished for
his public spirit in promoting the trade and welfare of his country.
He died at Oswestry in 1793, and was buried in the family vault
at Balrothery. Alexander had another son, Hugh, distinguished
as a philosopher and divine, successively Fellow of Trinity Col-
lege, Dublin, Dean of Armagh, Bishop of Clonfert, and afterwards
of Ossory. The baron died in 1793, whereupon Balbriggan de-
scended to his son, the Rev. George Hamilton, who by his wife
Anna, eldest daughter of Thomas Peppard, had issue the present
inheritor George Alexander Hamilton, Esq., a deputy lieutenant

47S COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

of the Couoty of Dublin afid a repr^sentatiTe cif the city iti tbe
Ust parliament ; the lineal descendant in ihe twenty-^fth de^ee
from Bernard) the nobleman of Saxony with whom this memoir
commenced.

In 1786 Doctor William Hamilton, Fellow of Trini^ College^
Dublin, published the ingenious letters eoncerning the coaal of
Antrim.

In the eighteenth century, Alexander Hamilton, a native of
St. Croix, but of the Scotch house of Grange in Argylei^ire^
having emigrated to New York at th« age of aixteen, and entered
himself at Columbia College, joined the patriot sfmj at the age
of nineteen, «nd subsequently greatly distinguished himself in thb
American war. He led the Americans at the storming of York*
town. In 1787 he developed and defended in a series of letters^
under the name of Publius, the plan of the national governmenl^
and in 1 789, oa Washington's election to the prefilden<^, was b^
him appointed to fill the office of chief secretary. In the following
year he brought forward bk lunuiioitt and ingentbus system of
funding the public debt and forming a national bank. His success
in these measures acquired him the epithet of the financial saviour
of the United States ; he because the inseparable companion of
Washington, and in 1798, when that great man was again entreated
to marshal the forces of his country, the appointment of Hamilton
to the post of second in command was made an imperative condi-
tion of his acquiescence. In 1807, having opposed the election of
Colonel Burr to the governorship of New York, he was chd-*
lenged by that gentleman, when a duel took place between them
in New Jersey, where at the first fire Hamilton was i^ortally
wounded.

In 1796 Captain Sir Charles Hamilton of the Melpomene cap-
tured the French corvette la Revanche, in 1800 took the island
of Goree, and in the following year commanded numerous attadis
on the French settlements in Africa; while in 1799 Sir Edward
Hamilton, knight, commander of the Surprise 6f thirly-two guns,
gallantly re-captured the Hermione of forty-fbur guns under the
fort of Cavallo, mounted with 200 pieces of cannon, subsequently
obtained the grand cross of the fiath, and was created a baronet
in 1819. In 1803 died Sir William Hamilton, the celebrated

BBEMORE. 479

jiistofian and ntturalist; and in 1814 John Hamihon of Wood*
brook in the county of Tyrone was created a baronet, having, pre-
viously so distingubhed himself in the Peninsular war, Aat th#
Prince Regent of Portugal conferred upon him the insignia of a
knight commander of the order of the Tower and Sword, and the
JCing of Portugal the grand cross of the same4iliaiinguahed ordef.

A short distance from Balbriggan is

BREMORE,

whidi had been the manorial seat of a branch of the
43amewall ftimily from the commencement of the
fourteenth century. Lord Lansdowne is now the
principal proprietor of the fee, and is characterized
by all his tenantry as an excellent landlord.

Here is a very handsome cottage of Mr. Gilbert^
opposite which, in a fkrm yard, the wreck of the an-
cient castle may be traced on a site, commanding a
most extensive and sublime prospect. Near it are
the remains of the old church, within which may be
seen a stone, that seems to have formed the arching of
the castle doorway, and bears the date of 1689. On
the ground in front of the farm-house Is another
stone of the same edifice, charged witb the armorial
bearings of the families of Buriford, Howth, and
Barnewall.

In early times the chapelry of Lamhecher at Bremore was
subserrient to the church of Lusk> and long after its disunion paid
a pension thereto* '

For a notice of the church of Bremore in 1200, see ante at
" Babrothery."

By a. private act of parriament of 1560, it was enacted, that

480 COUNTY OP DDBLIK.

James Barnewall of Bremore, and Margaret hb wife, should haye
the tithe fish within << the corde of Bremore,'* and, accordingly a
subsequent inquisition finds his descendant John seised of a castle,
forty messuages, and sixty acres here, a water-mill, with the water
course running by the land of Foulkstowu and Moorpitts, and of all
wrecks of the sea, and tithes of fishes i^pertaining to said manor.

In 1606 James Barnewall, son and heir of said John, had
livery of seisin of Bremore.*

In 1641 several barks lying off Skerries were plundered by the
Confederates, and the spoil carried to << Barnewall of Bremore, a
prime man.^f

In 1663 the lan^s of Bremore and Newhaven were found to
be worth £100 per annum, and to contain 405 acres. About
which time, James Barnewall of Bremore was one of the signers
of the Roman Catholic Remonstrance.

In 1736 Captain Vernon, then sheriff of the county of Dublin,
being directed to give possession of the castle of Bremore to Mr.
Tummon, was opposed by Captain Mac Culloch and his depend-
ants. Fifty shots were exchanged, but without slaughter, at last
the ammunition of the castle being spent, the besiegers drew near,
made a breach, and took the garrison prisoners ; but, Mac Cul-
loch, his wife, and one O'Neill, having retired to a garden-house,
necessitated another attack until they also were captured, and
with the rest brought prisoners of war to Kilmainham gaol.

From Bremore, a pretty hedge road conducts to
Balscadden, opening occasional vistas at right of the
intermediate country to Drogheda, the fine castle of
Gormanston towering amidst its woods, and the re-
mote encircling sea.

BALSCADDEN.

This little village, more anciently called Bally-
scadden, is situated in a deep glen, cut up by a rugged

• Rot Pat in Cane. Hib. t Borlase's Irish Rebellion.

BALSCADDEN. 481

ravine, that in winter is the bed of the mountain rills.
The churchyard exhibits the remains of the old
church, but neither contains any monument of note,
unless perhaps one to the Walshes of Stidalt. Near
the village are four acres of glebe. There is also a
new Roman Catholic church here, rectangular and
roomy.

The parish is in the deanery of Garristown, and
comprises 3948a. Or. 38p. in sixteen townlands; the
vicarage appertains to the Dean and Chapter of Christ
Church, in whom the rectory is impropriate, and to
whose treasurer the rectorial tithes, estimated at the
annual value of £120, are payable. In the Catholic
arrangement, it is in the union of Balrothery. Its
population in 1831 was 1011 persons, of whom the
Poor Inquiry Report states 220 to be labourers, sixty
getting permanent employment, and 160 occasional.
The Report of 1835 states, that there are not ten
Protestants in the parish. The National Board of
Education gave £63 for the building of schools here^
£35 for fitting them up, and allows £14 annually for
their support.

Balscadden was an ancient manor of the Ormonde
family. The principal proprietors here now are the
Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord Gormanston, Mr. Wood,
and Mr. Aynwright. The average acreable rent is
355. per annum.

In 1178, when Archbishop Laurence O' Toole confirmed the
possessions of Christ Church, the church of Balscadden and its
tithes, and the advowson of its vicarage, were enumerated amongst
them, which right was subseq»jently further assured by the char-

2 I

482 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

ter of King H#nry the Thifd,* gubject to tho conditioo ihgt four
tonoDg should be maintained there, to celebrate masses for thd
souls of said king and Archbishop Luke.

In 1250 King Henry granted in frankalmoigne to the cathe-
dral of Christ Church, Dublin, three carucates, 89a., and a mill
in Balscadden, also the homage and service due by Robert and An*
drew Passelewe (Paisley) and William Fitz Milo from their tene-
ments in the same village, with one carucate and 12a., which Wal-
ter le Blund held in farm. The contents of this tract of land
were estimated at thirty librates, and were granted to Christ
Church on the condition of paying f o the dean and chapter of
fit. Patrick's half the yearly profits, but the prior and convent,
after they had obtained possession, refused to fulfil the condition,
whereof complaint being made. Archbishop Luke, with the advice
of John de Taunton, Bishop of Kildare, and others, made an order
that the manor should still continue in the possession of the prior
and convent of the Holy Trinity, but that they should assign
therefrom fifteen librates to the dean and diapter.f This moiety
the dean and chapter subsequently exchanged for certain lands
called Rathsallagh and Ballyog^n, near Carrickmines4

In 1306 this church was valued to Pope Nicholas's taxation
at £10. For a notice of the manor in 1385, see at " Turvey."

In 1421 Henry of Marleburgh, the Irish annalist, was vicar
of this parish. His chronicles commence at 1265 and terminate
in this year. They are published at the close of Dr. Hanmer's
Chronicle, and are frequently quoted by Archbishop Ussher, who
affirms that the best MS. copy of them is in the Cottonian col-
lection. For a notice of the manor in 1461, see at ^< Turvey."

In 1515 Sir Thomas Butler was found seised of this and other
manors in this connty. In 1539 the vicarage was taxed to the
First Fruits at £4 I2s. Ad., while the regal visitation of 1615 re-
ports the rectory as impropriate to the church of the Holy Tri-
nity, that the vicarage was worth £12 per annum, and was filled
by Thomas Hood, and that the church and chancel were then in
good repair.

• Alan's Liber Niger. t Dign. Dec. p. 110.

X Repertorium Viride.

BALSCADDEN. 483

Ib 161d this mMlor belonged to the Earl of Ormonde. At
the time of the commonwealth survey> SOa. of commonage, [dan-
tation measure, were stated to be here.

For a notice of James Duke of York's possessions in this pa-
rish in 1665, see ante, at « Bahrothery." In 1666 Robert Fin-
glas had a grant of certab premises here, and in particular of the
church land of Babcadden» defined as thirty acres. In 1669 Jenico
Lord Oormanstown passed patent for '< the farm of the land of
Ballyscadden,^I12A., the parks of Stamullen> 60a., ftc, plantation
measure.

In the civil war of 1688 James Hackett forfeited the town and
lands of Tobbertown and Ballygaddy, with the land of the church
of Balscadden, containing 208a., 6cc.

In 1697 the Rev. Andrew Finglas was returned as parish priest
of Balscadden and Balrothery, resident, as the document states,
at Tobbertown, being eighty years old, lame, and blind, and hav-
ing Mr. John Coghran, as his curate, living with him.

In 1708 the Hollow Blade Company had a grant of (inter
ttlia) Balscadden, SIa., with church land called Priorslond, ^A.,
part of the estate of the before.mentioned James Hackett, at-
tainted.

In 1805 the Board of First Fruits granted £500 towards build-
ing a new church here. In 1888, however, this parish was re-
turned as one of those in which the Protestant service had not
been celebrated for the last three years.

A road leads hence to the Naul, at the Dublin
side of the stream that bounds the county. It com-
mands some pretty views of the glen ; but the lover
of the picturesque should turn at Tobberstown, de-
scend to the bridge of Doulagh, and, thence crossing
into the county Meath, pursue the little road that
leads by the river to what is called the old mill, but
now the new mill of the Naul. The hedges along
this road were (July, 1836,) breathing the perfume
of wild roses and woodbine, while in the shady ditches

2 i2

484 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

behind them, the sheep lay listlessly panting in the
heated atmosphere. In such an hour it was cooling,
as by sympathy, to see the bathers plunging

** Their fervent limbs in the refreshing stream,**

and to look upon that stream itself, gliding in graceful
meanders, while the silence of the valley was broken
only by its babbling current, or the strokes of the
mill-wheel that laboured to impede it. Hence the
lovely glen of the Naul, with Westown House peering
at its head ; and Harbertstown, with its turret on a
yet greater elevation, can only be seen to advantage
by the pedestrian, who thus reaches a portion of the
valley, called the Roches, closely hemmed in by pre-
cipitate cliffs, rich with vegetable drapery at their
base, and in their tall summits caverned to a consi-
derable depth. The gap of this fine glen is sentinelled
at the Meath side by Snowton Castle, and on the
Dublin by the dark castle, especially termed of the

NAUL.

Its grey walls, here variegated with mossy streaks,
^here clothed in the livery of everlasting verdure, or
checquered between with those picturesque weather-
stains, which time only can shed over the works of
man. A small lake formed here, and for which there
is every facility, without much loss of good ground,
would make this a truly enchanting scene.

The river that waters the glen, enters the sea at
Knockingen, working several mills in its course, while

NAUL. 485

the caves alluded to are said to have been formerly
the receptacle of plunderers and robbers, who retreated
here, and were protected by the castle. One of these,
called in the Irish Shaun Kittoch^ or Left-handed
Jack, was famed for many daring depredations. He
long eluded the pursuit of justice, but having been at
length taken, with an Amazonian female, the intrepid
companion of all his exploits, both paid the debt due
to the injured laws of their country.

In the glen is a spa, that Doctor Rutty notices as
a comparatively pure chalybeate, of a modern degree
of strength, to obtain the benefit of which in perfec-
tion it is necessary to resort to the fountain. " It
seems worthy of notice," he adds, " that the glyn, in
which this spring is found, abounds with a rotten Irish
slate, which is of the mildest kind, or of the least de-
gree of acidity, I have observed, being of a very
mildly acid, and sweet, austere, or vitriolic taste, and
water poured hot upon it, acquired a strong sulphu-
reous smell, and it struck partly purple and partly
blue with galls, the characteristic of martial vitriol.
I moreover observed a rock of this slate to yield a
nitrous efflorescence, as do likewise several stones of
the like kind in the neighbouring country, which also
by decoction yield a calcareous nitre."* Lieutenant
Archer, in his survey of this county, says, he observed
near this crops of different veins of coal, as also fine
yellow ochre.

The old castle of the Naul is a square building

♦ Rutty'8 Mineral Waters, p. 364.

486 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

on an eminence, that projects into the glen, and com-
mands its whole extent, upwards and downwards. A
flight of winding steps leads to its summit. The re-
mains of Snowton Castle, on the opposite side of tlie
stream, are now insignificant. It formerly belonged
to the Caddells.

The village comprises about fifty cottages. It has
a plain church, adjoining which is a chauntry, now
unroofed, with a slab over the doorway, stating its
appropriation for the remains of the Hon. Colonel
Hussey, of Westown, and his lady, Mable Hussey,
otherwise Bamewall, 1710. There is also a Roman
Catholic church here of the T form ; the Catholic
union comprising with Naul, Damastown, or Holly-
wood, Ballyboghill, Gralfagh, and Westpalstown. The
National Board have likewise erected male and female
schools here, at an expense of £138, and allow £20
per annum for their support.

The parish comprises 2627a. 2r. 21 p., in thirteen
townlands; and its population was returned in 1831
as 758 persons, of whom 744 were Roman Catliolics.
The Poor Inquiry of 1835 calculated that there were
118 labourers here, of whom seventy-three were per-
manently employed, forty*one occasionally, and four
almost always unemployed. In the Protestant arrange-
ment, the rectory being impropriate in Mr. Pollard,
this parish ranks as a vicarage, united with those
of Hollywood and Grallagh ; the church of the union
being in this parish, and the patronage in the Marquis
of Drogheda. The proprietors in this parish are
Mr. Hussey, Mr. Tennison, and Mrs. Bunbury.

NAUL. 487

Acred>le rent varies from £1 10^. to £2 5^., while
a cabin, without land, is let at from £l 10«. to £2
per annum.

So early as the reign of King Jobs, the original castle is
thought to have been erected here, by Stephen de Crues, then
proprietor of the Naul* It would rather appear^ however, that
this esfe^Jte was not acquired by that C^mily until the close of the
thirteenth, or the beginning of the fourteenth century, whei^ one
of them; intermarrying with the heiress of Simon de GeneviUc, in
her right obtained the manor. The church was about the same
time united to the priory oi Lantbony pear Gloucester* See
** Garristown," ad ann. 1200.

In the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Prior 9f St.
John of Jerusalem was sejsed of a messuage and two carucates of
land herein.*

In the hostings during the reigns of Henry the Eighth and
BUzabeth, << Caddell of the Naul" (he was settled at Huggards-
town in this parish) did service with two armed horsemen, while
Walter Cruise w^s more expressly summoned in right of the Naul
and Grallagh.

In 1605 Christopher Cruise was seised in fee of the Naul,
Lieighlinstown, Leniston, Flackston, and Loughmean, one eastle
and 500 acres,t and, by iiiquisition pf 16U, the abbey of Duleek
was found seised of (inter alia) the rectory of Naul, containing
Naul, Jarnestown, Weston of the Naul, Rathaggardston, Rey-
nojdston, and Dowlagh, and the tithes thereof, all which were
granted to Lord Moore by patent of 17 James I., and confirmed
by another patent of the 15 Chas. I.

in 1641 the castle, &c. of the Naul were forfeited by Christo-
pher Cruise, Esq., as was Haggardstown, before mentioned, by
John Caddell ; and in 1666 James Duke of York passed patent
for 500a. plantation measure here, which were, on his attainder,
granted in 1703 to William Barton of Thomastown in the county
of Louth. The manor subsequently passed to the BeUew family,
and from them by marriage to that of Hussey*

* Rot Claus. Edw. 111. t Inquis. in Cane Hib.

488 COUNTY OP DUBLIN.

In 1697 the Rev. Owen Smyth was parish priest of Naul,
Hollywood, Westpalstown, and BallyboghiU.

In 1700 John Usher, as executor of Sir Thomas Newcomen,
claimed and was allowed before the court at Chichester house, a
leasehohl interest in the lands of Naul, little Rath, &c.

Immediately adjacent to the village is Westown
House, formerly a seat of the Bellew family, now the
residence of Anthony Strong Hussey, Esq., one of
the deputy lieutenants for the county of Meath. It
is a handsome seat, overlooking the glen and all the
beauties of the adjacent country.

In reference to the subject of botany, some banks
here present the geranium lucidunif shining crane's-
bill. While on the road sides between this and Bre-
more are found cheledonium majus^ celandine, con-
taining a gold coloured juice of some medical virtues,
also the pyrethrum Parthenium^ common feverfew.

The direct way from Naul to Hollywood leaves
the hill of Knockbrack on the south ; the traveller,
however, who takes 'the road that goes over this
height, will be well rewarded by the magnificent ex-
tent of mountain, plain, and water which it affords, ex-
hibiting, in a noble panorama, Slieve Gullion in the
county of Armagh, Moume mountains in the county
of Down, the Hill of Carlingford and Clogher Head
in the county of Louth, Gormanston Castle peering
from the intervening wooded plain, Balbriggan whiten-
ing the shore, the fine semicircular perspective of sea,
dotted by the villages of Rush, Dunabate, Portrane,
Malahide, Beldoyle, the islands of Lambay and Ire-
land's Eye, with the promontory of Howth ; while

HOLLYWOOD. 489

to the south the plains of Meath, Kildare, and Dub-
lin, are seen spreading to the foot of a fine termina-
tion of mountains, between which Kingstown and the
metropolis can be discerned, and, amidst the landscape,
the silvery line of Dublin Bay shooting far into the
interior. It is not to be forgotten, that this hill is
reputed to abound with most excellent coals.

HOLLYWOOD,

the next locality on this route, was an ancient manor
of the family who thence derived their name, and
extended over the lands of Hollywood, Kinawde,
Brownstown, Newtown, Ballyrichard, Damastown, &c.

The hill particularly called Hollywood, commands
a prospect more limited at northward than that seen
from Knockbrack, but at southward equally extensive.
The little village is on the descent of the latter side,
and presents the ruins of another of the Fingal spe-
cies of triple-arched belfry churches, with nave and
chancel, the former sixteen yards long by six wide.
The windows and doorways of this edifice are round
arched. There are no tombs worthy of notice in
either the church or churchyard, and both are thickly
filled with thorns. There is a quarry immediately
adjacent, which supplies lime, building, and rotten
stone.

The parish bears the same name, and extends
over 4789a. 3r. 5p., comprised in fifteen townlands,
the chief proprietors being Lord Howth, Sir Comp-
ton Domville, Sir Thomas Staples, &c. Its popula-

490 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

tion wa8 returned in 1831 as 1022 persons^ of whom
1005 were Roman Catholics. Rent varies from one
guinea to thirty-seven shillings per acre annuallj,
wages being one shilling per day.

In the Protestant arrangement, the rectory being
impropriate in the Marquis of Drogheda, the parish
ranks as but a vicarage, episcopally united from time
immemorial with those of Naul and Grallagh, all in
the deanery of Garristown, and gift of the aforesaid
Marquis. There are five acres and a half of glebe
annexed, and the income of the union is augmented
by £31 per annum from Primate Boulter's fund. In
the Catholic dispensation this parish is in the union
of Naul.

The church here was from a vary eajrly period appropriated to
the canons of Lanthony near Gloucester.

In 1206 King John directed a reference to ascertain whether
Hollywood, then the fee of Geoffrey de Marisco, had been ob-
tained on an exchange by the Archbishop of Dublin.*

In 12d0 flourished John de Hollywood, a famous philosopher
and mathematician, and so called from having been born here^
" In his springing years," says Hanmer, <* he sucked the sweet
milk of good learning in the famous university of Oxford, after-
wards he went to Paris, where he professed the learned sciences
with singular commendations, and there slumbereth in the dust of
the earth, whose exequies and funerals were there with great lar
mentations wlemmted" He wrote four books respectiv^y treating
< De Spherd Mundi,' « De Algarismo,' < De Anni Ratione sive de
compute ecclesiastico,' and < Breviarium Juris.' The first of these
works has been commented upon by many learned men, and par-
ticukrly by Christopher Clavius. He died at Paris as before
mentioned, and was buried there in the cloisters of the convent of

• Lit, Pat in Turr. Load.

HOLLYWOOD. 491

St. Maturine) otherwise called the convent of the Holy Trinity
for the redempton of captives ; a ^here is engraved upon his
tomb.* For a notice of Hollywood and its dependant chapelry of
Grallagh, in this century, see at " Clonmethan.''

About the year 1302 « there arose a great controversy in law
between Richard de Feringes, Archbishop of Dublin, and the
Lord Edmund Butler, touching the manor of Hollywood in Fingal,
with the appurtenances, which manor the Lord Butler recovered
by an arbitrament or composition taken between them in the
King's Bench at Dublin."t

In 1310 Roger de Sacro Bosco (Hollywood) was summoned
to attend the parliament of Kilkenny, and in 1334 Henry Holly*
wood, a Dominican fnax, was directed to parley with O'Conor,
Prince of the Irish of Connaught, and to receive for his expenses
and services forty shillings.

In 1355 Robert Hollywood was Chief Remembrancer of the
Exchequer. In 1361 Robert de Hollywood, a member of this fa-
mily, was one of those gentlemen, <<the worthiest then in chivalry,'*
who were knighted by Lionel Duke of Clarence. In 1373 he had
a grant of £40 for his services in the wars in the counties of Kil-
kenny and Carlow, and in 1377 was required to march with his
retinue against the O'Byrnes and CTooles. In 1401 Christopher
Hollywood was one of those empowered by the king to hold con-
vocations of the prelates, magnates, &c., to record their proceed-
ings and to assess the state subsidies voted by them. For notices
in 1416 and 1420, see at " Artane."

In 1422 the Hollywood family were on inquisition found
seised of various lands in Hollywood, Brownstown, Cloghran, &c.|
The former denomination being charged with a certain chief rent
to the priory of the Holy Trinity of LismuUen, in the county of
Meaih. The same family had also the patronage of the vicarage
of Hollywood, until by the marriage of the heiress of Sir Robert
Hollywood with Robert Burnell of Balgriffin, it passed to the
latter family.

• Ware's Writers, p. 73. t HolinsUed.

X Rot. Pat in Caxu^ Hib.

492 COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

Tn 1539 the Rectory here was taxed to the First Fruits at
£4 \4s, and the vicarage at £2 ISs, 4d. Irish.

A rental of the sixteenth century states that the Priory of
Kilmainham was seised of (inter alia) seven acres in the mountaio
of Hollywood, as